GUWAHATI, Oct 27 - With Kamrup (Metro) district reporting over 1,800 cases of dengue so far this year, the health authorities and the district administration will now undertake a �revised programme� of intensive fogging and other measures to tackle the menace during the next fortnight.
Officials told The Assam Tribune that special focus has been put on eight wards in the city where dengue cases have been highest and the aim is to drastically reduce such cases by the middle of November.
Already three rounds of intensive fogging along with public meetings and awareness campaigns have been held since July across all the 31 wards in the city.
�However, eight of the 31 GMC wards have witnessed maximum number of cases and so we have revised out strategy. Over the next fortnight, all efforts will be directed on controlling the dengue menace in these eight wards,� said a senior district administration official.
The authorities have 35 fogging machines at their disposal, including 29 with the GMC and six with the Health Department.
When contacted, Joint Director of Health Services Dr Ganesh Saikia said from July onwards all the wards were covered on a rotational basis with fogging and other campaigns being undertaken in two wards every day. �We reviewed the results and based on the outcome, we will now undertake the revised programme concentrating our focus on the eight most vulnerable wards,� Dr Saikia said.
�While dengue cases in Kamrup (Metro) are no doubt high, it is also a reality that the total number of cases has come down comparatively since 2016. Last year, there were over 5,600 dengue cases in the city and two deaths were reported. This year, there have been no deaths from dengue in the city so far. Though sections of the media have reported that two or three persons have died due to dengue in Guwahati this year, we found that the deaths were due to other causes after we reviewed those cases.�
Ward 3 (Rest Camp, Pandu, Maligaon), Ward 10 (Panbazar, Paltan Bazar, Fancy Bazar), Ward 11 (Uzanbazar, Jarpukhuri, Chenikuthi), Ward 16 (Fatasil, Barsapara), Ward 18 (Ulubari, Rupnagar, Bhangagarh), Ward 23 (Bamunimaidam, Lalmati, Noonmati), Ward 24 (Geetanagar, Mathgharia, Forest Gate) and Ward 27 (Lokhra, Beharbari, Odalbakra, Betkuchi) have witnessed the maximum number of dengue cases this year.
Dr Saikia added that the target is to make Guwahati �dengue free� by 2018.
