Peshawar - Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Tuesday decided to launch a special project to improve general sanitation, drainage and water supply system in dengue hotspots of the provincial metropolitan Peshawar as a long-term strategy to effectively contain the breeding of dengue mosquito.
These hotspots include Bazid Khel, Ahmadkhel, Mashokhel, Phando, Thekal, Sufaid Dehri, PishtaKhara, Sarband, Acheni, Kotla Mohsin Khan, Landi Arbab and others. The decision was taken in a high-level meeting held here with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in the chair. The meeting reviewed the latest dengue situation in the province with special focus on Peshawar division, anti-dengue measures being taken by the concerned departments and district administrations.
The meeting also reviewed implementation status of decisions taken in the last meeting held under the chair of the Chief Minister to curb dengue. Provincial ministers Taimur Jhagra, Kamran Bangash, administrative secretaries of concerned departments, Commissioner Peshawar, Director General, Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) and officials of the Health Department also attended the meeting.
Stressing the need to undertake a special project to improve general sanitation, drainage and drinking water supply system on war-footings in the hotspots of Peshawar, directed the Health Department to immediately identify such interventions in those affected areas further directing the Local Government Department to prepare a PC-1 for those interventions.
The Chief Minister directed the quarters concerned to ensure implementation of all activities under the proposed project by March next year and directed the Commissioner Peshawar to personally monitor implementation of the project. He also directed all divisional commissioners to monitor anti-dengue activities in their respective divisions. The Chief Minister directed that report of all such activities be sent to Chief Minister Secretariat on regular basis.
Mahmood Khan said that his government would provide all required resources on priority basis to contain dengue in the province. However, he said that all concerned departments and entities would have to fulfil their respective responsibilities in effective manners with regard to the implementation of Anti-Dengue Plan in its letter & spirit. In case of any negligence, he said, strict action will be taken against the responsible ones.
Briefing about implementation status of the decisions taken in the last meeting, it was informed that dengue tests were being carried free of cost in three tertiary level hospitals of Peshawar, DHO Peshawar has been replaced with another one and an enquiry committee has been constituted to look into the funds utilised by various departments for anti-dengue activities.
It was informed that anti-dengue activities are being carried out in consultation with the elected public representatives in the dengue affected areas whereas fortnightly progress review meetings were being chaired by the provincial minister. It was told that over 8,000 dengue cases had so far been reported with nine deaths in the province adding that over 650 teams were working for larval mechanical sweeping in the hotspots of Peshawar.