The Environment Protection Department (EPD) on Tuesday constituted two more mosquito larvae inspecting teams in addition to the eight teams already working on 500 sites across the city. The teams have been working since the beginning of the EPD’s anti-dengue drive on September 18.
“Initially we had eight teams, but two more teams were constituted on Tuesday to speed up the work against dengue epidemic,” said Younas Zahid, the EPD deputy district officer (DDO). He said the new teams will only inspect hospital wards and endure that hospital waste is properly segregated.
He said that the department had decided to constitute a separate inspection team for laboratories and hospital after used syringes and infusion bottles were found dumped with non-hazardous waste. He said inspection teams had seen plants kept in hospital wards and water dripping from air conditioners.
As many as 136 sites with mosquito larvae were pointed out on September 18, 157 on September 19 and 142 on September 20.
Zahid said that on average, EPD teams inspected 150 sites a day including schools, markets, drains, hospitals, laboratories, petrol pumps, tube wells, factories, storage rooms and parks.
Plants and water distilled from air condition units have been pointed out at these sites where mosquitoes might breed. Dengue wards of about 40 hospitals and laboratories have been inspected so far, he said.
EPD spokesman Naseemur Rahman told The Express Tribune that the environment secretary visited two to three areas in the city daily, besides visits by the inspection teams in their respective areas.
Rahman said that shops had been issued directions under the Punjab Local Government Ordinance. He said fresh water bodies under the Water and Sanitation Authority (Wasa), irrigation, tehsil municipals offices and union councils will be issued notices under Section 16 of the Pakistan Environment Protection Authority.
EDP Inspector Kamran Tufail said that disposal of rain water in school yards and tyres piled outside tyre shops were potential mosquito breeding agents. He said EPD teams in Shalimar and Wagha Town had found many such cases. Tufail said that no such notices have been issued so far. The concerned authorities were only directed verbally to take precautionary measures and kill mosquito larvae in fresh water sources.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2011.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ