Mehsood urged the police to treat dengue fever as a social issue and stressed the need for mobilising the community to take preventive measures.
“All possible steps are being taken to eradicate dengue fever,” District Coordination Officer (DCO) Naseem Sadiq said on Saturday. He was addressing newsmen at GPO Chowk on Anti-Dengue Day being observed across the province.
“The Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) and the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) have been directed to remove standing rain water,” he said.
Walks, seminars and cleaning exercises were arranged to raise awareness about the disease and its prevention on Anti-Dengue Day.
An awareness walk was arranged by the city administration from Town Hall to GPO Chowk. It was led by Minister for Health Tahir Sindhu and DCO Naseem Sadiq. The participants of walk reiterated their commitment to curb the disease. Sindhu and Sadiq also distributed pamphlets among commuters at GPO Chowk.
Talking to newsmen, Sindhu said the media needed to play a stronger role for prevention of dengue.
He said so far, one case of dengue fever had been reported in Lahore this season.
The DCO said all government offices and city schools were cleaned on Anti-Dengue Day.
Debris and junk were removed from various places in LDA buildings. Water accumulated at various places was also dried out.
Focal persons assigned to various premises inspected the buildings and submitted certificates regarding their cleanliness.
Awareness material regarding causes and prevention of dengue was also distributed among LDA employees on this occasion.
The nine town administrations, too, arranged walks as part of their awareness campaigns.
A dengue fever awareness walk was arranged by the Environment Protection Department (EPD) from Liberty Roundabout to Gulberg’s Main Boulevard.
Environment Secretary Anwar Rasheed and Environment Protection Agency (EPA) Director General Farooq Hameed Sheikh led the walk.
Speaking on the occasion, Rasheed said the department had devouted a large portion of its resources for elimination of dengue fever. Rasheed said its eight anti-dengue squads had been inspecting tyre shops, warehouses, junkyards and construction sites for dengue larvae.
He said the EPD had inspected 12,614 places in all 36 districts of the Punjab and issued 4,367 notices, sealed 27 buildings and lodged 31 FIRs against various tyre shops and warehouses for violating the policy guidelines for containing dengue virus.
He said the squads had inspected 2,018 places in Lahore to eliminate breeding sites.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 28th, 2013.
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