As many as 76 more people were infected with the deadly dengue virus in Rawalpindi during the last 24 hours, raising the tally of confirmed cases to 1,810. District Coordinator Epidemics Prevention and Control (DCEPC), Dr Sajjad Mehmood, Sunday said that, among the new cases, 47 patients had arrived from Potohar town urban area, 13 from Rawalpindi Cantonment, six from Municipal Corporation, Rawalpindi, three from Chaklala Cantonment, two from Potohar rural and one from Kahutta and Gujjar Khan.
Dr Sajjad added that 230 patients were admitted to the city’s allied hospitals, including 102 to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital(BBH),67 to the District Headquarters Hospital and 61 to the Holy Family Hospital. He further updated that out of the total admitted patients, 152 were confirmed cases, with 121 belonging to Rawalpindi. The health officer informed that two patients were in a critical position at BBH and HFH each.
While giving details of the punitive actions, the health officer said that the district administration had registered 2,146 FIRs, issued Challanas to 7,077, notices to 9,094, sealed 544 premises and a fine of Rs 5,448,916 imposed on violations of SOPs in various areas of the district from January 1 to date. The health officer added prevailing weather had increased the threat of mosquito breeding, and September and October were crucial for dengue spread. He urged the residents to clean their water tanks and not leave any place wet with stagnant water. RDA officers directed to accelerate anti-dengue campaign: Director General (DG) Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Saif Anwar Jappa has directed the authorities concerned to accelerate the ongoing anti-dengue campaign and utilize all available resources to ensure cleanliness, detect dengue larvae and remove stagnant water.
According to a RDA spokesman, the DG had directed the administration of five housing schemes including Bahria Town, Faisal Town, Top City, University Town and Mumtaz City, which come under RDA control to focus on anti-dengue activities. The DG also instructed the administration of the housing schemes to hire entomologists. He urged the citizens to take special care and all possible cleanliness arrangements should be made. The residents should also use mosquito repellent spray, he said adding, water drainage system should be checked regularly so that if there is any stagnant water, it could be removed. The DG had also nominated Assistant Director Planning, Mehwish Naseem as focal person for the five housing schemes.
To another question the spokesman informed that RDA on the directives of the DG had issued notices to 14 illegal housing schemes. He said, on the direction of the DG RDA, the authorities concerned were taking legal action against illegal advertising and marketing of the illegal housing schemes. The authority had issued notices to 14 housing schemes including Tab City Housing Scheme, Turkish Smart City Housing Scheme, Al-Rahmat Housing Scheme, Nishan-e-Mustafa Housing Scheme, Ample Living Housing Scheme, the Countryside Farms Housing Scheme at Mouza Baga Sheikhan Chak Beli Khan Road, Pine Green Housing Scheme, New Murree Township Housing Scheme, Hope City Housing Scheme, Bunyad Housing Scheme, Tokyo Smart City Housing Scheme, Green Hills Enclave at Mouza Lakot Expressway Murree, Agro Park Housing Scheme at Ratta Gujran, Rawat Rawalpindi and Forest Town at Mouza Chhani Sher Alam GT Road Rawalpindi.
He said that the RDA had also lodged First Information Reports (FIRs) against three housing schemes including Turkish Smart City, Ample Living and The Countryside Housing Schemes while applications were submitted in relevant police stations for registration of FIRs against other illegal housing schemes. The spokesman informed that the owners and sponsors of the illegal housing schemes were misleading the public through advertisements, adding, in this regard, the planning wing of the RDA had also requested the Cyber Crime Wing of FIA to take legal action against illegal and misleading advertisements of the illegal housing schemes.
On the direction of the DG RDA, the public had been advised not to invest in illegal and unauthorized housing schemes, he said adding, the citizens could check the status of the housing projects from RDA official website www.rda.gop.pk.emes.
