Daily Times

KARACHI: The ping-pong among various civic agencies to take responsibility and steps towards cleanliness during monsoon is likely to bring increasing cases of rain-related diseases like dengue, malaria, diarrhea, gastro in Karachi.

Sindh government has imposed rain emergency across the province including Karachi keeping in view the lashing rains and the concomitant floods. However, Thursday’s heavy showers lashed different areas of the metropolis, leaving several streets flooded with rain water.

According to health experts, government has announced rain emergency but did not take related actions.

“You saw it on first half-an-hour shower which exposed our sewerage system,” said Dr Mirza Ali Azhar, Secretary General Centre, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA).

“The quality of new sewerage line recently built at University Road was exposed as water standing by knee height. The stagnant rain water will mix with sewerage water and drinking water, being supplied through pipelines, and lead to various diseases,” Dr Mirza stated.

Terming the stagnant water very alarming, Dr Mirza said that the situation could lead to cholera. “There could be outbreak of dengue, typhoid, hepatitis and other diseases,” he said.

“On the other hand, government’s steps towards garbage collection are very poor. The stagnant water and garbage will further pollute the environment and cause bacterial diseases,” he added.

The city is already over-burdened with mosquito-borne diseases, lack of lifting of the garbage and potable water supply in recent months where government failed to take satisfactory actions despite repeated guidelines from World Health Organization (WHO) and other donor organizations.

For instance in May last, a WHO team recommended to the government to take ‘radical’ measures to safeguard the city from increasing incidence of chikungunya and called for effective and integrated vector control interventions. WHO experts also highlighted the need to improve environmental conditions by removing piles of garbage and fixing sanitation problems.

With the change of command at Sindh’s Dengue Control Program just before the arrival of crucial monsoon season, the number of actions could be affected that could pose new challenges to already low-ranked Program.

For instance, hiring of field staff that was planned to hire to run Program’s fumigation drive through newly bought motorcycles is in doldrums.

The drive was supposed to be initiated from July 05, 2017 but health officials admit that the hiring was postponed due to the new boss on the hot seat.

“The interviews were scheduled on that day where we had new boss. The number of staff was planned for the fumigation drive on motorcycles. There is no field staff at the moment to initiate the drive,” said Director General (DG) Health Sindh, Dr Muhammad Taufiq while talking to Daily Times.

Dr Taufiq said health department has written number of letters to KMC for fumigation. “We have already sent a letter to KMC prior to monsoon. We are sending reminder to KMC shortly”, he added.

Project Director Dengue Control Program Sindh Dr Abdul Rasheed Shaikh told Daily Times that things from his side were not planned as it was likely that he would hold important meetings on Monday. “It is KMC and Malaria program’s duty to kill larva”, he said.

Sindh Malaria Control Programme Director Dr Naheed Jamali, while agreeing with Dr Shaikh said that prime responsibility of drainage of rain water lies with KMC. Malaria Control Programme would start anti-malarial spray in August.

“Anti-malarial spray would be started in August where water would stagnant,” Dr Jamali said adding that, “Heavens have not fallen as it was not raining for the first time. We would deal the situation like we did in past.”

Published in Daily Times, July 1^st , 2017.