Lucknow: Reality check spots admin napping, mosquitoes buzzing

LUCKNOW: Vacant plots, lawns, water troughs, choked drains and garbage piles at many places in the city are acting as happy breeding grounds for mosquitoes, posing threat of further rise in dengue and other vector borne diseases, a TOI reality check revealed.
After recording more than 30 dengue cases in the couple of weeks, authorities said that they have stepped up the drive against mosquitoes, but residents at several localities complained about no or less than required fogging or anti-larvae spraying.

The water accumulation was found on the main road as well as inner streets and plots in Faizullaganj, Indiranagar, Gomtinagar extension, Rajajipuram, Jankipuram, Ashiana, Kanpur Road, LDA colony Kanpur Road, Gomtinagar, Nishatganj and Aminabad.
In Faizullaganj, LDA colony, Ashiana and Kanpur Road, people are full of anger over the neglect by civic authorities. They claim workers do not take steps to clean the area on their own nor do they pay heed to the requests by residents.

Mosquitoes are buzzing in lawns, flowerpots, vacant plots and in open drains.
Similarly, in other areas like Rajajipuram, Gomtinagar, Aminabad, residents complain that LMC workers come once in a while for fogging and health teams only come for anti-larvae sprinkle when someone gets dengue.
Earlier on September 4, the health department and the district administration officials had claimed they identified 11 hotspots in the city for dengue/malaria where fogging is being conducted twice a day and anti-larvae spray is also being done. However, of these 11 localities TOI checked five, where residents claimed such activities have not been up to the mark.
However, chief medical officer Dr Manoj Agrawal denied the charges.
He said, "We are conducting drives in full swing. Since the areas are vast so there might be some delay but fogging and anti-larvae sprinkling is being continuously performed. We have also issued helpline numbers so that people can choose these activities on demand.”
Besides, he said, rapid response teams had been set up to ensure dengue patients get medical kits just as was done in case of Covid-19.
LMC officials also said that regular fogging and garbage collection is being done.
(With input from Pragati Shukla, Kritika Mathur, Ayushi Mishra)