Daily Times

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government Tuesday decided to launch a special project to improve the 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 Bazidkhel, Mashokhel, Phando, Thekal, Sufaid Dehri, PishtaKhara, Acheni, Kotla Mohsin Khan, Sarband and other localities.

The decision was taken in a high-level meeting held here with Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan in the chair. Provincial Ministers Taimur Saleem Jhagra, Kamran Bangash, administrative secretaries of departments concerned, commissioner Peshawar, DG Peshawar Development Authority and officials of health department attended the meeting.

The meeting reviewed the latest dengue situation in the province with special focus on Peshawar division, dengue preventive measures being taken by the concerned departments and district administrations. The meeting also reviewed the implementation status of decisions taken in the last meeting held under the chair of the Chief Minister to curb dengue. The chief minister stressed 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 the implementation of the project. He also directed all the divisional commissioners to monitor anti-dengue activities in their respective divisions.