Foggy impact of fumigation on dengue, chikungunya

The govt and the civic bodies have taken up fogging on a war footing, but experts are divided on its effectiveness in checking the mosquito problem

As the number of deaths from dengue and chikungunya spiked in September, the Delhi government and the municipal corporations responded in the way they do every year when cases of vector-borne diseases shoot up in the monsoon: they ramped up fogging, or fumigation, across the city.

Plumes of diesel and malathion, an insecticide that has low toxicity for humans but can be more dangerous if ingested, soon rose up from the roads and alleys.

On September 14, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Minister Kapil Mishra and BJP MP for north-east Delhi Manoj Tiwari were photographed on bicycles fitted with fumigation devices, spraying insecticide into the air in Sonia Vihar.

Full effort

The government and civic bodies pledged more resources to their respective efforts. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said 600 more machines would be deployed. The cash-strapped East Delhi Municipal Corporation recently procured 30 new hand-held devices, adding to the 182 it already possessed.

In total, the EDMC, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation have 1,100 hand-held fumigation devices. The three corporations also have 25 vehicle-mounted fogging machines.

‘Minimal impact...’

There’s only one problem.

Experts, municipal officials and councillors are divided on whether fogging is really helping Delhi deal with the mosquito menace.

Councillors and municipal officials have repeatedly said in meetings of Standing Committees that fumigation has minimal impact on controlling the spread of vector-borne diseases as it only targets adult mosquitoes, not the larvae.

‘...but people are satisfied’

But, it works well in one way.

“People are satisfied. I can’t comment on the scientific impact, but the fumigation drive is working,” said Subhash Arya, the Leader of the House in the SDMC.

The SDMC has borne the brunt of the mosquito menace, with 353 of the total 1,692 dengue cases as of September 24 coming from South Delhi — the highest of the three corporations.

Mr. Arya added that while adult mosquitoes are killed through fumigation, the practice can’t lead to total eradication of the disease-carrying insects. However, he said the fogging efforts had been intensified.

Not all residents are satisfied though.

B.S. Vohra, the president of the east Delhi RWAs Joint Front, said that while regular fogging is being carried out, the results are short-lived.

“There is respite from mosquitoes for a few hours or a day at most after fogging, but then the mosquitoes are back. In almost every other household there is a patient of chikungunya or dengue,” said Mr. Vohra.

Apart from questions about its effectiveness, there are concerns about the environmental and health impact. As per the National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme’s Operational Guidelines for Urban Vector-Borne Disease Control 2016, one part of malathion is to be mixed with 19 parts of diesel.

Last year, when Delhi saw a record-breaking number of dengue cases at over 15,000, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) had said that the fogging drive was ineffective in controlling the disease.

Adding to that, the director-general of the CSE, Sunita Narain, told The Hindu on Saturday that fogging was the “last resort” all over the world.

“It is being seen as ineffective. Over time, it builds resistance and even impacts water sources. What is being done for site management where breeding occurs? Every pothole, every garbage dump is a potential site for breeding,” said Ms. Narain.

Fogging has little impact on controlling the spread of diseases as it only targets adult mosquitoes.

with thanks : The Hindu

2 years on, Swachh Bharat yet to reach Bhalswa

Landfill sites across Capital continue to grow upwards even as civic bodies claim efforts made to improve sanitation

As smoke rises from the burning garbage, Bhalswa may as well be on a different planet than the manicured lawns of Lutyens’ Delhi where Union Ministers will mark the second anniversary of the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission on Sunday.

On the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the nationwide cleanliness drive on October 2, 2014.

The goal was a ‘clean India’ by 2019 - the 150th birth anniversary of the father of the nation.

Two years since its launch, Swachh Bharat has not reached the outskirts of the Capital, where a mountain of garbage at the Bhalswa sanitary landfill site continues to grow, and burn.

The 40-acre landfill operated by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation exceeded its intended capacity years ago.

Along with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s Okhla landfill and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s landfill at Ghazipur, the Bhalswa site continues to grow upwards.

Delhi produces an average of 8,360 metric tonnes (MT) of municipal solid waste (MSW) every day - nearly all of it is dumped at the landfills unprocessed.

Slow progress

While the civic bodies of Delhi have made efforts to improve processing, with waste-to-energy plants at Timarpur-Okhla, Ghazipur and Narela-Bawana being set up, the progress has been slow. For instance, the North Corporation’s Narela-Bawana plant was supposed to start operations in 2013, but it is still only in trial phase, a spokesperson said.

When it comes to alternatives to the dumping grounds, the civic bodies have not had much success.

Vijay Prakash Pandey, the Leader of the House of the North Corporation, admitted that fires did erupt “routinely” on the Bhalswa landfill, but the civic body had no other option but to continue dumping garbage there.

“We don’t have any other land. Where we got some land, residents protested. No one wants a landfill near their house. We also have a lack of funds,” said Mr. Pandey.

He added that the North Corporation was in the process of improving garbage collection.

The civic body’s garbage collection contract had been at the centre of a controversy earlier this year when then-Mayor Ravinder Gupta and the rest of the BJP leaders in the corporation publicly disagreed on how much it should cost to lift trash.

The infighting led to the contract being put on hold and the existing contractor being given extensions. Mr. Pandey, however, said that the new proposal that should be drawn up in a month would improve sanitation.

Waste processing

The SDMC has already embarked on its project to improve trash collection. Starting with the Central Zone, the corporation will outsource the process of collection from street-level, processing through compactors and transportation to the landfill. On Saturday, Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung inaugurated five of the fixed compactor transfer stations.

With all four zones of the SDMC to follow, Shailender Singh, the chairperson of the corporation’s Standing Committee, said there would be a “revolutionary change” in garbage collection in the next six months.

“The compactors will squeeze the garbage, making it easier to transport. We have been trying to improve our collection, but floating the tender takes time,” said Mr. Singh.

Overflowing dhalaos

The slow process of getting projects approved has also hit plans to construct more public toilets. With the east and north corporations facing a cash-crunch, the collection of garbage from dumps or dhalaoshas also suffered. The president of the East Delhi RWAs Joint Front, B.S. Vohra, said that while residents welcomed the idea of the Swachh Bharat Mission, the “implementation has been poor”.

“Next to nothing has changed on the ground. In fact, earlier the dhalaos would be cleared twice a day, but now we are lucky if they are cleaned even once. Garbage is always overflowing on to the roads,” said Mr. Vohra.

In fact, the EDMC fell from rank 47 in 2014 to 52 in the 2016 Swachh Bharat rankings. However, there was some hope, with the SDMC and North Corporation improving from 47 to 39 rank and 47 to 43 rank respectively.

The New Delhi Municipal Council, where the corridors of power are, improved from rank seven in 2014 to four in 2016. On Sunday morning, when Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu flags off the NDMC’s ‘Swachhta Rally’ at the lawns of India Gate, the fires of Bhalswa will be miles away.

We don’t have any other land. Where we got land, people protested. No one wants a landfill near their house. We also have a lack of funds

with thanks : The Hindu

Indian Army conducts surgical strikes on terror camps in PoK

Pics with thanks to various sources on Yahoo, FB, Twitter,

Waste segregation at source key to solution on waste issues

Dear Sir,

Waste segregation at source is key to solution on problems arising out of ever increasing uncontrolled waste generation. We have to look for solutions at the source of waste generation itself.As per article in TOI on 27th Sept 2016, 431 truckloads of domestic waste is dumped in a single day at east Delhi Gazipur dumping site. This is what  we need to work on as it constitutes valuable green waste from individual households and when disposed off mixed in poly bags generates toxic fumes. This mixed domestic waste is a health hazard and cause of great environmental pollution.

 Out of total domestic waste 65% is from Kitchen and is green waste.Residents and communities should be  made aware of importance of waste segregation and it also should be made mandatory.Secondly awareness on  easy cost effective ways of composting should be made available and encouraged.Thirdly government and agencies should help in easy implementation of the processes by making space available for the project. The manure thus produced should be accepted by government nurseries. By initiating these measures the problem can be tackled to a large extent.

The benefits are bound to surpass the efforts made in this direction.

The segregated waste disposal will save time of garbage handlers as they spend close to half a day in segregating waste at Dhalaos. They will work in much hygienic conditions and ensure cleaner environment around waste dumping sites.

The valuable green waste will fetch them good money once they are shown and given easy composting solutions.The government will not be under constant pressure to look for landfill sites.Citizens will get respite from air and environmental  pollution. The financial empowerment of poorest of poor would surely have an impact on controlling crime around dumping sites.Lessen the use of polybags for waste disposal.Save stray cows and animals from ingesting polybags along with green waste .And most important would be , that our efforts will lead towards preserving the fertility of soil for future generations.

Our SHIELD society has initiated such measures by training people in various localities with fair amount of successes.We had initiated the project more than six months ago in few areas of Sangam vihar ,Safdarjung B4 ,Masjid Moth DDA Flats phase1 ,Shahpurjat Dhalao etc.We in our experience have found that the major roadblocks is  our limited outreach to people and awareness on options of composting available to people.Principal of Saint Kabir school Hissar learnt the technique from our Harit Kachra Kranti whats app group and successfully introduced the concept to school children. We should introduce this in MCD schools as mandatory school project for class four or  five students. At that age children are more receptive to new ideas.The benefits of the project are far reaching and manifold.

Since the creators of the problem to large extent are citizens ! rich or poor ,the solution also lies in our hands.

Ranju Minhas

help prevent dengue /chicken gunya

Construction sites have staganted water in shafts /lift shafts,open or partially closed water tanks ,area below staircase ,in basement  where dengue/chicken mosquitoes can breed  through out the year/through out the period of construction.The chowkidar & resident labour suffers through out.Supervisor/contractor/owner are unaware of the correct method to eliminate breeding.No one like to have dengue /chicken gunya but because no one has guided them properly there is breeding at construction sites inspite of fact that the site is frequently fogged & some chemicals are put at stagant water.

The fault is that the stagnant water in shafts is mixed with lot of debris like wooden planks of shuttering which prevent the  fog /chemicals from reaching all areas of stagnant water .Further the water in shaft is at a great depth at basement level where fog may not reach.There are water tanks in basement  where fog may not reach.The underground water tanks/syntax water tanks are partially covered or covered with  only a small opening through which fog may not be able to enter the water tanks.

The easy, effective solution is squeezing some kerosene oil/petrol or diesel through the hole in a lid of a plastic bottle over all surface of stagnant water in the various shafts,water tanks,basement & else where .  .Kerosene/petrol spreads over the surface of water killing all larvae.It does not kill eggs ,pupa & adults.It has to be repeated after 4 days to kill any larvae which have emerged from the remaining eggs.Adults may be killed by one time fogging.After that koil may be squeezed every 7^th day.Water tanks should be kept covered with oversize covers .Shafts should be got cleaned of visible debris frequently .Stagnant water should be evacuated as frequently as possible.

If people can interact with the supervisors/contractors/owners & apprise them of these measures,it can be of great help in reducing breeding of dengue mosquitoes

Dr VK Aggarwal

INSENSITIVE MCD ON FOGGING

Sir this is to inform you that i am resident of Navrachna Appartment East Arjun Nagar delhi 110032. This comes under Ward No 225 of MCD. Almost every house has one patient for fever dengu chickengunia.A complaint no 3679 filed in shahdra south control room no action. A Complaint No 201686310 was filed in PGMS.DELHI.GOVT.IN which was transferred to EAST MCD and Pending with Dr Das still no action The Govt do nothing inside the Cooperative Group Housing Society only work for mcd is cleaning of road outside and fogging which is not done MCD Blaming Delhi Govt when they are insensitive to complaints than they have no rights to blame others. sir now i have  received reply from Deputy Health Officer shadra Soth Zone vide DHO/SHAH(S)2016-17/1721 DATED 23.09.2016 that team visited the area on 16.09.2016 and carried out spray work yes the team visited and sprayed on stagnated water. the inspector has telephoned me  as i was in the office i have reqested them to meet sh n k malhan resident of c-14 a social activist and it was decided that fogging will be done on 17.09.2016 but no body turned up on 18.09.2016 the malaria breeding checker came and told us that fogging will be done after half an hour but no body turned up when this malria staff  telephoned the fogging staff he was told that there is no need for fogging in navrachna appartment . they are doing weekly fogging in nearby LAHRI COLONY AND OTHERS WHICH COMES UNDER WARD NO 226 OUR WARD COMES UNDER WARD NO 225. NOW THERE CONTENTION THAT they are doing weekly work the checkers  comes weekly and put liquid in cooler what about others. this is discrimination with us it is pointed out that as i was complainant so my house was fogged and the fogging was done in three other house all others are left .  i have reported this to all councilor, mp and mla and complaint to chief minister office failed to move this insensitive mcd chander mohan Navrachna appartment east arjun nagar delhi 110032 

No Fogging Done at Punjabi Basti, Subzi mandi, Delhi

NO FOGGING HAS BEEN DONE IN OUR AREA:

PREM GALI, TIKONA PARK, PUNJABI BASTI, SUBZI MANDI DELHI-110007

ASHOK KUMAR

Twin attack of Dengu & Chikungunya !

It's now the time to take much more care, much more precautions as now the TWIN ATTACK of Dengue & Chikungunya is being heard. There are instances where persons have got Chikungunya as well as Dengu at the same time or one after another. RWAs must continue its efforts of Fogging the colonies as well to check the breeding.

9 hour power cut in East Delhi locality

NEW DELHI: Residents of east Delhi’s Krishna Nagar allegedly faced a nine-hour power cut on Sunday night as discom BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) is installing what they call Delhi’s first state-of-the-art packaged grid in the area.

The grid is expected to improve the power supply in the congested area.

“The residents spent a horrible night without electricity, without even being informed,” said resident BS Vohra.

“It was a planned shutdown …It had to be done to avoid any accident,” said a BSES spokesperson.

with thanks : Hindustan Times

Clean garbage dumps twice daily, orders Najeeb Jung

The Delhi lieutenant governor (L-G) Najeeb Jung directed civic bodies to clean the garbage depots or dhalaos twice a day to tackle the rising cases of chikungunya and dengue.

RAJ NIWAS

Lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung (Centre) holds a review meet to assess sanitation in national capital.

He also asked them to initiate legal action against the concessionaires responsible for cleaning the dhalaos if the order is not complied with.

Jung issued a slew of directions after a review meeting on sanitary conditions in the city on Monday.

The meeting was attended by deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, health minister Satyendra Jain, New Delhi Municipal Council ( NDMC) chairman, municipal commissioners, and officials of the Delhi government.

Officials apprised the L-G of measures taken to prevent mosquito breeding and create awareness among citizens about vectorborne diseases.

Jung asked deputy commissioners( revenue) to visit private hospitals to ensure patients from the economically weaker sections(EWS) get proper treatment.

“A report on the same is required to be submitted to the division al commissioner and the L-G’s office regularly,” said a press statement released by the L-G office on Monday.

Following the meeting with Jung, Jain blamed civic bodies for the poor sanitation in Delhi. He said that the B JP-led municipal corporations have miserably failed Prime Minister Narendra Mo di’ sS wachhBh ar at Abhiyan.

with thanks : Hindustan Times

BYPL's largest transformer at Krishna nagar, Delhi