Health team at port town

Health team at port town

MANOJ KAR

Species of female anopheles mosquito which acts as malaria vector. Telegraph picture Paradip, Oct. 6: Clogged drains have turned into ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes resulting in an outbreak of vector-borne diseases across the port town. Cases of malaria apart from diseases like dengue and chikungunya are on a steady rise here. A team of epidemiologists from the state health department found visible presence of the disease-carrying mosquitoes in the port town. “Stagnant water in open drains and sewerage points continues to be the major cause of health hazard. We collected larvae samples from stagnant waterbodies for laboratory test. There is wide presence of vector-borne mosquitoes like culex, aedes and anopheles in the urban areas. While the situation is bad in civil township, things are worse in slums and unplanned settlements on the outskirts of port town,” said chief of the medical team V.N.V Rao. “Many storm water drains are choked with polythene wastes. Moreover, worn-out tyres dumped by automobile shops are breeding mosquitoes,” he said. “On basis of findings of the larvae test reports, we are going to submit a report to the state health directorate,” Rao said. “The dual administration of the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) and the municipality has led to the disintegration of sanitation measures here. The port trust deals with larger storm water drains while cleaning up of the rest of drains lies with the civic body,” said former administrator of Paradip municipality Balabhadra Patri. “Civic authorities would visit the waterlogged areas for smooth discharge of stagnant water,” said vice-chairman of Paradip Municipality Basant Kumar Biswal. “Cases of malaria are on the rise here. On an average, about 300 inpatients are tested positive every month. Moreover, cases of vector-borne diseases are reported from Paradipgada where crews of goods loaded trucks throng,” said chief medical officer of the Biju Memorial Hospital Dilip Kumar Biswal. “Our hospital is not equipped to diagnose cases of dengue and chikungunya,” he said. It has been often found that migrant labourers apart from truck drivers are carriers of vector-borne diseases. “The migrant workers get infected in their workplaces and carry home the virus. Paradip, being a growing industrial hub, often encounters the mosquito-borne diseases due to the presence of itinerant population,” said Dipti Prakash Pattnaik, a local resident. (Sourced from Telegraph  )