Chennai: With the northeast monsoon weeks away, Tambaram Corporation has stepped up dengue prevention measures, deploying around 700 mosquito breeding control workers across its 70 wards to identify and eliminate breeding sites before the rains intensify.According to corporation officials, workers inspected more than 1.2 lakh houses over the past week and destroyed over 4,500 potential mosquito breeding sources, including stagnant pools of water, discarded tyres, coconut shells, garden pots and water accumulated on rooftops.Abate larvicide is being used in overhead water tanks and other stagnant water sources.Fogging is also being carried out using vehicle-mounted and handheld machines every day in bus stands, markets, schools and other locations where water tends to stagnate.Special fever camps are being conducted in coordination with the health department to screen residents and identify cases at an early stage.Corporation commissioner S Balachander said, “Health department officials have also begun issuing notices to owners of vacant plots, locked or vacant houses and new construction sites where stagnant water or other conditions could support mosquito breeding. Under Section 61 of the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939, owners who fail to address such conditions will be fined. The corporation will also undertake cleaning work and recover the cost from the owner.”Health officials have advised residents to clean and scrub water storage containers and tanks regularly, keep them tightly covered and prevent water from stagnating around homes.
