No fumigation in Karachi ahead of dengue season

Despite rising cases of malaria and dengue, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has been unable to launch its fumigation drive in Karachi so far, allegedly due to the Sindh government's failure to insecticides to the local government body.

The drive, which was meant to begin almost six months ago, has not yet kicked off, leading to the increased breeding of dengue larvae as a result of poor sanitation conditions.

A KMC municipal services official claimed they had been unable to begin the drive simply because of the lack of cooperation from the provincial government. He maintained that though the staff, vehicles and machinery were all available, the Sindh government had not provided insecticide to the KMC.

According to him, the Sindh Malaria Control Programme is responsible for purchasing insecticides and distributing them among the various districts of the province, but the programme management had not provided any insecticide to the KMC for the past few years.

While the Sindh Prevention and Control Programme for Dengue has been fumigating selective areas of the city, the KMC has not been able to carry out any fumigation of its own, even as the peak dengue season approaches.