Negligence of MCC! 14 Employees of Kanara Club Affected with Dengue

Negligence of MCC! 14 Employees of Kanara Club Affected with Dengue

• Negligence of MCC-Dengue Still on the Rise! 14 Employees of Kanara Club, Kadri-Mangaluru Affected with Dengue-Two of them hospitalized. Dr Manjayya Shetty-the Health Officer at Mangaluru City Corporation, and who also happens to be one of the senior members of Kanara Club has turned a blind eye towards the filth and stagnant water in the vacated and dilapidated Kadri market, which is adjacent to the Club-which is one of the main reason to spread the diseases like Dengue and Malaria in that vicinity.

Mangaluru: While the Mangaluru City/Dakshina Kannada has seen over 500-600 cases of Dengue, and nearly 7-8 deaths resulting from dengue, with a young college student who died two days ago. Few weeks ago, as they say “Better Late Than Never”, after all these dengue cases and a few deaths reported, the officials of District Administration and Mangaluru City Corporation had woken up to take preventive measures and also bring awareness on Dengue by putting up banners and hoardings pertaining to Dengue, announcement made over microphone using vans and auto-rickshaws, awareness jingles on radio and TV channels, and sending out Teams from the district administration to out source reduction, drain cleaning, fogging, public buildings inspection and drain cleaning in areas.

These preventive measures should have been undertaken well before the start on monsoons, and also crackdown on builders who had left behind stagnant water at their construction sites. And since few days we don’t see any workers of MCC nor from the district administration going around in the city, to check for larvae and mosquito breeding spots. In the month of June-July it was reported that Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) deputing its multi-purpose workers (MPWs) for water bill collection, ignoring their main task of source reduction to control dengue and malaria, was one of the reasons for the outbreak of dengue in the city, according to some activists and health professionals. It was stated that the malaria parasite-carrying Anopheles mosquito and the dengue virus-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquito breed in freshwater.

Coming back to the 14 employees of Kanara Club being affected with Dengue since a couple of weeks, out of which 12 have recovered while two are still hospitalized at two different hospitals. While the Kanara Club premises is clean, there is no chance of the spread of Dengue within the Club premises. So the only doubt and possibility of the spread of this disease is from the vacated and dilapidated Kadri Market, which is very adjacent to the Club, has given scope for larvae breeding, and mosquitoes spreading this Dengue disease. The vacant Market has been filled with filth- and men are seen urinating in this abandoned site.

A portion of the old market area being dug to begin the construction work of the new Multi-complex market has been stopped, and the dugout area has been filled with rainwater, being stagnant now, thereby giving scope for mosquito breeding, resulting in diseases like Malaria, Dengue and other diseases. And the best part is that the Health Officer of MCC Dr Manjayya Shetty, who also happens to be one of the senior members of Kanara Club, has turned a blind eye towards the pathetic condition of the dilapidated old Kadri market, which has turned into an area of health hazards.

Sources reveal that the MCC had started using Malaria Control Software, developed by Mangalore Medical Relief Society, on October 17, 2015. Right from the detection of cases of malaria, this system was used to monitor treatment and track source reduction. The system works on information provided by laboratories, nursing homes and hospitals in the city. The services of 60-odd MPWs were being used mainly for this purpose, and each of them has been given a tab connected to the software. But according to one senior physician who had said that if the system had worked effectively, there would not have been an outbreak of dengue and malaria, which usually follows intermittent rain.

Then an official from the Health Department said that in the critical months of monsoon, these MPWs were busy issuing water bills. With this, source reduction work was ignored. Thus we are seeing over 600 cases and 6-7 deaths due to Dengue or malaria. Through this report Team Mangalorean would like to bring to the notice of the Health Officer and other concerned officials in MCC to take quick action, and clean the abandoned old Kadri Market, so that the poor and hard-working employees of the nearby Club, and also other shop owners who are doing business in that vicinity may not get affected by Dengue or Malaria. Hoping that MCC officials will do the needful, Team Mangalorean extends sincere thanks in anticipation.