Blame 'Games' for dengue sting?

Health Minister says CWG main reason for surge in figures

AS the countdown for the Commonwealth Games continues, the count of dengue cases in the city is going up. Latest government data shows there are 419 cases in Delhi now with 36 new cases reported on Saturday.

But it seems, rather than taking the problem head on, ministers and officials are more focused on shifting the blame. On Sunday, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that breeding of mosquitoes at the unfinished CWG venues is the primary reason for the surge in dengue cases.

"The rise in dengue and water is strongly related. Delhi is already dug up because of the Games and it is also raining very heavily. Since water remains accumulated in many places, it becomes a breeding place for mosquitoes," Azad told reporters.

According to the data released by Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the number of dengue cases this year is the highest in the last five years. The previous high at this time of the year was 59 in 2008 whereas last year it was just two.

As per the MCD, constructions for CWG is the prime reason for dengue but there are other contributing factors.
"Water is getting collected everywhere in the city. There are a lot of unauthorised colonies in the city where mosquitoes are breeding", said Dr N K Yadav, Medical Health Officer, MCD.
Meanwhile, due to heavy rainfall, water has collected outside various hospitals too including Govind Ballabh Pant Hospital, Lok Nayak Hospital, Kalavati Hospital and many others.

But, the civic agency is not prepared to take the blame.
"No single department can be held responsible for dengue. There has to be collective effort from all departments", said Yadav.
When asked, the Delhi Health Minister said the Games can't to be blamed completely.

"MCD is authorised to take care of such issues. When they should have taken care of mosquito breeding, the agency employees were busy collecting property tax," said Kiran Walia, Delhi Health Minister.

But, the MCD has failed to pinpoint the core reason behind the menace.
"I have no idea that which virus is getting circulated among the people", said Yadav.

Holy Family Hospital reported 682 cases of dengue patients in their hospital this season.
"We get 35-38 cases of dengue daily", said a senior doctor from the hospital on the condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.