Rubbish dumps, water accumulations behind dengue, malaria outbreaks

Rawalpindi:Heaps of garbage, rubbish dumps and unnecessary water accumulations that can be witnessed in almost all localities of the town can be termed as the potential causes of spread of serious infectious diseases’ outbreaks including dengue fever and malaria and the situation is alarming as the most suitable season for breeding of mosquitoes has already set in.

One can easily witness a number of points being served as garbage dumps in open in the streets of congested localities in the city area and as well along a number of link roads in areas falling under the jurisdiction of Potohar Town, Rawal Town and cantonment boards. The waste management authorities have so far come up with no success in clearing these points from garbage on a permanent basis. Health experts believe that the poor management of solid waste would certainly increase the chances of dengue fever outbreak and spread of malaria in near future as almost all risk factors including rains, rising temperature, heaps of garbage and rubbish dumps are there to support hatching of mosquitoes’ eggs in this region of the country.

People must be aware of the fact that dengue fever is caused by the bite of an infected female mosquito ‘aedes aegypti’ and its elimination is a must to control spread of the infection. Almost all varieties of mosquitoes breed in or near water that is stagnant or slow moving.

It is important that the teams of District Health Authority Rawalpindi and district administration are taking extraordinary measures for larvae identification and elimination from inside houses and outdoor spots but according to experts, the steps may not yield the desired results unless the rubbish dumps are removed from the localities.

According to District Coordinator Epidemics Prevention and Control Dr. Sajjad Mehmood, the teams of District Health Authority Rawalpindi have so far found larvae of dengue fever vector from as many as 2064 houses and 493 spots in the district this year. It is worth mentioning here that the larvae detection this year is significantly higher as compared to the larvae detected till this point in time in the last two years and according to health experts, it hints towards a more severe outbreak of dengue fever in the coming months as compared to the past.

A number of congested localities of the town including Dhoke Elahi Bux, Dhoke Khabba, Arya Mohalla, Sadiqabad, Chah Sultan, Banni, Dhoke Chiraghdin, Rahimabad, Tamhasapabad, Peoples Colony, Tench Bhatta and the areas adjoining Raja Bazaar and Saddar markets could not be cleared from rubbish dumps and garbage for years that proves the concerned government authorities incapable of performing their duties appropriately. Also, it seems as no one is responsible for clearing rubbish dumps from sites along rail tracks particularly from Marreer Chowk to Chaklala Railway Station.

Experts say that the heaps of garbage and feces in rubbish dumps may cause the spread of a number of serious infections including typhoid, cholera, dysentery and malaria. The vectors for infectious diseases including mosquitoes and flies know no boundaries and can move from one locality to the other and to avoid outbreak of infectious diseases, it is a must to clear the whole town from potential breeding sites of the vectors. It is also important to mention that that the population in this region of the country had faced the most severe outbreaks of dengue fever in the last many years and almost after every outbreak, the city district government, district health department and the district allied departments had held a series of meetings to review and discuss measures to ensure clean environment in the district however, the town could not be cleared from garbage dumps and unnecessary water accumulations so far.

Experts say that within the next few days, the temperature in this region of the country would go up and would be highly suitable for breeding of mosquitoes and flies and if the concerned authorities fail in removing the rubbish dumps from all localities in Rawal Town, Potohar Town and areas in the cantonment boards, the population would be at a higher risk of facing severe infections.