KMC unable to launch anti-malaria and dengue spray in Karachi

KARACHI: The Municipal Services of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) has failed to launch the fumigation drive in Karachi despite the rise in malaria and dengue cases in different areas of Karachi.

The anti-dengue and malaria fumigation drive could not begin despite the lapse of almost six months, putting the lives of citizens in danger in Karachi. Dengue larva breeding has been increasing due to the poor sanitation conditions in the city, as no concrete step has been taken to control the prevalence of dengue, malaria, and other vector-borne diseases.

An official at the Municipal Services Department told that the KMC has been unable to launch the anti-dengue fumigation campaign due to the unavailability of insecticide, which was to be supplied by the Sindh government. They informed that the staff, vehicles, and machinery were available, but the Sindh government did not provide insecticide chemicals to the KMC’s Municipal Services Department.

They further informed that the Sindh Malaria Control Program was responsible for purchasing insecticide chemicals and distributing them in districts of the Sindh province as per the requirements, but the program’s management had not been providing insecticide chemicals to the KMC since a couple of years.

The Prevention and Control Program for Dengue in Sindh (PCPD) is conducting fumigation in selective areas of Karachi after dengue cases were reported, but the concerned authorities of the KMC are unable to start the fumigation drive in the city to control the prevalence of mosquito-borne diseases.

The peak season of dengue is about to start in the city and will continue till December, but no anti-dengue fumigation drive has been launched in any part of the city by the KMC this year so far.  The major dengue sites are nurseries, graveyards, lakes, ponds, swimming pools, tire shops, water pumping stations, hydrants, construction cities, and waste and garbage dumping areas.

Experts recommended launching the anti-dengue and malaria and congo fumigation campaign in high-risk areas of the city before the start of the rainy season to control a possible outbreak of vector-borne diseases.

In 2019, the Prevention and Control Program for Dengue in Sindh registered 16,925 dengue cases across the Sindh province, out of which 15,709 were recorded in Karachi alone. Forty-six people also succumbed to dengue in the previous year.

Similarly, the Sindh Malaria Control Program had registered more than 14,000 cases across the Sindh province in the last year.

Head of Sindh Malaria Control Program and the Prevention and Control Program for Dengue in Sindh, Dr Mehmood Iqbal Memon, was not available to make any comments.

-MN Report