Shaheen Bagh in Delhi mourns dengue ‘deaths’

Saqibul Islam Khan, a Shaheen Bagh resident, lost his 14-year-old son Abuzar to dengue on September 13. His youngest son, one year old, was also diagnosed with dengue and is recovering at the Apollo hospital.

The Khans are unsure whom to blame for their elder son’s death.

A few metres away, at F/39, 24-year-old Mohammed Rashid died on September 4. At C/40, Rashid’s neighbour Ashad Iqbal,18, died on August 28. At F/158 in the same block a 28-year-old who had become a father two months ago died on September 8. On August 21, Farhan Habib,12, died at the RML Hospital a week after he organised a dengue awareness campaign in the locality.

THE PROBLEMS

District health officer Dr Tunit Singh said of the houses that MCD surveyed in Shaheen Bagh, every day around 7% were found to have dengue larvae breeding.

“We found at least 50 buildings where water had accumulated in the basement... This is the most common place for larvae breeding. Shaheen Bagh has always been vulnerable,” said Singh.

Mona Sreenivas, deputy commissioner (south) said that a major problem MCD officers faced at Shaheen Bagh was the residents refusing officers entry to check the building.

“The water table is high in that area and there are basements in many buildings. People do not use the basement and have thrown garbage. Some days ago, the SDMC got 100 additional sweepers to clean the area and pump the water.”

MOSQUES SPREAD AWARENESS

The large number of deaths here has also led to fear. Most residents flock to nearby clinics, the moment anyone has a fever. “There has been a massive increase in fever patients. Not all of them have dengue. They hear about deaths and come for tests,” a local doctor said.

During the afternoon namaaz (prayer) last Friday, heads of mosques in the area stressed on the importance of cleanliness and dwelt on how dengue spreads.

“We decided to take the help of community leaders to spread the message during weekly prayers. It looks like it’s working,” said Singh.