AAP, BJP spar over rise in dengue cases in Delhi

The Aam Aadmi Party Tuesday targeted the BJP over a rise in dengue cases in Delhi, alleging that municipal corporations did not take timely preventive measures.

Holding the BJP-ruled civic bodies responsible for the surge in cases, AAP MLA Atishi claimed that preventive measures like fogging and door-to-door checking for breeding of mosquitoes in stagnant water were not started in advance.

Hitting back at Atishi, Delhi BJP dubbed her allegations as ''shameful'' and clarified that all three municipal corporations are running awareness campaigns, carrying out fogging and trying to curb the spread of dengue by regular check of homes.

The national capital has witnessed a surge in dengue cases in the last two weeks and the first death was reported on Monday.

According to a civic report on vector-borne diseases released on Monday, one death due to dengue and a total of 723 dengue cases have been recorded this season till October 16, which is the highest case count since 2018 for that duration. ''BJP-ruled MCDs have not taken even a single step in time to prevent dengue in Delhi.... You will not find a single person whose house the MCD workers have visited to check for the breeding of mosquitoes this season. At this time, very little fogging is happening all over Delhi,'' Atishi alleged.

She claimed that while municipal corporations do not have ''adequate'' fogging machines, anti-dengue medications for fogging have also not been bought ''even till this month''.

''BJP's MCD is playing with the lives of Delhiites. BJP leaders have put the budget of dealing with dengue-malaria in their own pockets instead of spending them on machines and medications,'' she alleged.

Reacting to the AAP leader's charge, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that nothing can be ''more shameful'' than MLA Atishi's statement that municipal corporations are not doing anything to check the spread of dengue and malaria in Delhi.

''The MCDs are running awareness campaigns, doing fogging and checking the spread of dengue-malaria by regular check of homes especially coolers through DB workers while Atishi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is wasting crores of rupees on hoarding campaigns,'' he said in a statement.

Kapoor asked Atishi to ask the Delhi chief minister to stop wasting money on advertising and help municipal corporations financially to better control the spread of dengue-malaria.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)