The Gujranwala Divisional Commissioner Asadullah Faiz held an emergency meeting on Saturday to prevent a surge in dengue fever cases this rainy season and gear up implementation of anti-dengue measures as precautionary measures. Reportedly, he urged the chief executive officer (CEO) of health department, Dr Sohail Ahmed, to raise awareness amongst the general public to adopt precautionary measures. The district health officer (DHO) Sahibzada Ghulam Fareed and other health officers were also present in the meeting. Faiz further directed the officers to report areas of stagnant water in roadside ditches and point out open areas including graveyards, playgrounds, and parks etc where rainwater could accumulate. Later, he issued directives to the Solid Waste Management Authority and Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) to ensure removal of heaps of garbage from the district to prevent accumulation of rainwater. In order to monitor the anti-dengue drive effectively, he said that health teams should be provided with android phones. He further said that all the data and reports regarding the anti-dengue drive would be uploaded to the internet for raising awareness amongst the general public, and banners would be displayed hospitals, educational institutes and many important places. Besides, the health officers assured that larvicide has been sprayed in all ‘sensitive’ areas where dengue larva could grow while the teams were cleaning drains and ditches in the open areas. Late, the Commissioner presided over a meeting concerning tree plantation drive with an aim to eradicate pollution, and ordered the officers to adopt suitable steps to plant trees in the current monsoon season. He further urged the educational institutions to motivate students to participate in the tree plantation drive. Published in Daily Times, July 29th 2018.