Rubbish dumps posing serious health threats in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi:Heaps of garbage, rubbish dumps and unnecessary water accumulations in a number of localities in town are posing serious health threats to people and particularly in the existing hot weather conditions, these may prove to be potential cause of outbreaks of serious infectious diseases including dengue fever, malaria and even diarrhoeal diseases, typhoid and cholera.

One can witness a number of points serving as garbage dumps in open in a number of streets in congested areas of the city along with many link roads that, according to health experts, may serve as breeding sites for mosquitoes, flies and certain vectors causing infectious diseases.

There have been numberless sites along rail tracks passing through town having heaps of garbage and feces that may cause spread of a number of serious infections including diarrhoeal diseases. It seems as no one is responsible for clearing rubbish dumps from sites along rail tracks particularly from Saddar to Chaklala Railway Station and beyond.

The population in the region has been facing a severe heat wave and the weather conditions have already become highly suitable for breeding and growth of vectors of a number of infectious diseases.

Head of Department of Infectious Diseases at Holy Family Hospital Dr. Muhammad Mujeeb Khan believes that the unnecessary water accumulation and even the moisture beneath heaps of garbage on streets and roads may serve well as breeding sites of infectious diseases’ vectors and these must be cleared.

To avoid certain infections, breeding and growth of mosquitoes and flies should be avoided inside homes and from areas close to human habitat, he said.

The population in a number of localities in Rawalpindi district is at risk of facing health threats due to poor condition of cleanliness but the most affected areas are congested ones including streets in Waris Khan area, Dhoke Elahi Bux, Dhoke Khabba, Arya Mohallah, Dhoke Charaghdin, Chaklala and areas adjoining the main Raja Bazaar in town.

It is important to mention here that vectors for infectious diseases including mosquitoes and flies know no boundaries and can move from one area 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.

District Surveillance Coordinator Communicable Diseases and In-charge District Disease Surveillance and Response Unit Dr. Waqar Ahmed has already expressed to ‘The News’ that the number of cases of acute watery diarrhoea is on tremendous increase in Rawalpindi. It is alarming that the number of cases of AWD registered in the district Rawalpindi in April this year is more than double as compared to the number of AWD cases reported in April 2021.

Health experts say that if the breeding and growth of infectious diseases’ vectors are not checked at the time and if the concerned authorities fail in cleaning all localities in Rawal Town, Potohar Town and areas in cantonment boards, the population may face severe outbreaks of infections in the days to come.