RAWALPINDI: The City District Government Rawalpindi (CDGR) and health department have failed to spray anti-dengue medicines in low lying areas along Leh Nullah where rainwater has accumulated.

A senior health official told Dawn that instead of taking concrete measures to avoid spread of dengue fever in coming days, the government officials visited differentareasandsenttheirphotographic evidence to the provincial government.

`Under the standard operating procedure (SOP) issued by the provincial government, the health department and town municipal administrations spray anti-dengue medicines in the residential areas alongLeh Nullah within 48 hours aftertherainbutithadnotdone the exercise this year,` he said.

He said the town municipal administrations were responsible for clearing all the graveyards of bushes and wild plants.

`The government has given a go-ahead for recruitment of 1,067 workers including 377 female workers for anti-dengue campaign in the garrison city. The interviews were conducted on May 8 but they have yet to be issued appointment letters,` he said.

He said more than 6,033 candidates appeared before the CDGR and health department officials and gave their interviews. `If the local government failed to speed up the anti-dengue campaign the disease`s virus will spread massively,` he feared.

A City District GovernmentRawalpindi (CDGR) official told Dawn that the government had directed the officials involved in the anti-dengue campaigns to sendtheirphotographicevidence of their visit.

He also admitted that antidengue spray was necessary in the flood affected areas along Leh Nullah as dampness provided perfect breeding ground for dengue mosquitoes.

He said anti-dengue campaign review meetings held every Saturday under the chairmanship of Punjab Minister for Labour Raja Ashfaq Sarwar since January but the work at grass root level had not started as yet.

On the other hand, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Sajid Zafar Dall said that the CDGR had already started fogging the nood affected areas incantonment and it would soon move to city areas.

He said that the health department would soon issue appointment letters to the 1,067 health workers for anti-dengue campaign in the city and cantonment areas.

He said at present, more than 300 workers visited different areas of the city for dengue surveillance.

However, he said he had asked the health and other departments to speed up the campaign.

The DCO said the CDGR had sent 400 samples of dengue mosquitoes to Lahore for laboratory test but found none of them carrying dengue virus. He said adult dengue mosquitoes were also found in many areas and the health department would soon start fogging these areas to eliminate the mosquitoes.