PMC running low on ammo to battle dengue

Thanks to the sloppy attitude exhibited by the authorities the PMC might soon end up on the losing side of the war it had waged against dengue It has been learnt that while the existing stock of insecticides is nearing extinction civic officials are yet to issue fresh tenders to replenish the stock for the current year Smoke screen While the civic body has already exhausted its VectoBac stock itrsquos now using the surplus provided by a state department informed a civic employee File Pic A civic official requesting anonymity said the existing stock might not last beyond 90 days and the tendering process would take a couple of months if it starts this week He also revealed that while the tendering process was initiated in April by vector borne disease control cell owing to redtapeism it has still not been floated If initiated now the whole exercise will take about two to three months more he addedu00a0Officials fear that keeping in view what had happened last year when number of patients who tested positive for dengue had shot up drastically in October 270 and November 441 shortage of insecticide during the upcoming months might spell doom this year Running on empty A PMC employee sprays insecticide at one of the several mosquito breeding hot spots in the city Every year the PMC requires insecticides like Abate Pyrethrum Vectobac and MLO While the civic body has already exhausted its stock VectoBac stock its now using the surplus provided by a state department informed a civic employee VectoBac is mostly used to kill the mosquito eggs ldquoWhile there are other methods that can be used culling mosquito eggs is considered to be the preventive measurerdquo informed a former insect specialist at PMC Vaishali Jadhav medical officer and incharge of PMC vector borne disease control cell saidu00a0ldquoWe have enough stock to fight vector borne diseases and it will last for another two months Even the stock of other insecticides will last for a good four to six months The insecticide purchasing for year 201314 is yet to happen Wersquoll replenish the stock once the tendering process is donerdquo PMC Medical Officer S T Pardeshi said the tendering process was on and stock would be replenished by theu00a0monthend ldquoThe tender will be processed after the Sanding Committeersquos approvalrdquo he said Commenting on the issue Corporator Dr Sidharth Dhende said itrsquos been six months since the PMC budget was table and it reflect bad on civic bodyrsquos part to not float a new tender to replenish the stock as the matter concerned citizens ldquoIf the PMC can spend on festivals then why not at a time when itrsquos a peak period for dengue Floating tender is a technical term which mosquitoes donrsquot understand and theyrsquoll keep doing their job of spreading deadly diseasesrdquo he said Did you know Steps to complete the tendering process Approval from Standing Committee Floating the tender Accepting the tender Finalising the tender Random sampling of material to be purchased for quality check Sending those samples to laboratory Stock accepted once approved by the lab 246 No of patients who have tested positive for dengue since January this year 199 No of people who tested positive for dengue from January to September 2012 711 Total number of dengue cases reported in the city in the months of October and November last year