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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

India : Dengue - A battle almost lost

An article from Hindustan Times, excerpt :

" The dengue outbreak in Delhi has taken over the security concerns of countries participating in the Commonwealth Games. Twenty-four participating countries have already bombarded the Organising Committee (OC) with queries about the dengue-preparedness in the city. A host of countries, including Malaysia and Australia, have also issued travel advisories for their nationals coming to Delhi for the Games.

The civic agencies responsible for keeping a check on mosquito breeding have found that Games sites are the hotbeds for mosquito breeding.

Most of the Games sites such as Yamuna Sports Complex, CWG village, Indira Gandhi Stadium and RK Khanna Sports Complex, have been fined a number of times by the civic agencies for mosquito breeding. “The Games Village is particularly in a bad shape. Our preventive measures there have proved futile because of its location and present condition.

The entry points to the Village and the roads outside it are completely waterlogged resulting in massive mosquito breeding,” said V.K. Monga, chairman of MCD’s Public Health Committee. “The water has to be drained out from the surrounding area otherwise the situation will get out of control,” added Monga.

Seven thousand athletes will be staying at this village. Emaar MGF that has constructed the Games Village has said it is not responsible for taking any measures outside the Village boundary. “We have handed over the Village to the OC and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)."

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