MCDs flayed for dengue crisis

New Delhi: The Comptroller and Auditor General has rapped the BJP-ruled civic bodies in the national capital for failing to mount an effective response to dengue despite having adequate funds, several crore of which were wasted. Among the institutional gaps pointed out in the report was lack of an effective surveillance mechanism.

The CAG’s performance audit report tabled in the Delhi Assembly on Friday said the municipal bodies spent Rs 109.43 crore, between 2013-15, on domestic breeding-checkers without any supervision of the work done or any assessment.

The audit was conducted to assess whether the steps taken by government agencies and municipal corporations to control dengue were adequate and effective. The report pointed that despite the recurrence of dengue over the years in the NCT of Delhi and the spike in dengue cases as well as mortalities during 2015, the steps taken by the departments, as well as the municipal corporations, were not commensurate with the magnitude of the problem though funds were not a constraint.

According to data shared by the Centre in Parliament, the viral disease, which is transmitted through the bite of the female Aedes mosquito, had claimed 60 lives in Delhi in 2015, recording a sharp rise over the previous years.

“Only 289 out of 967 reporting units (30 per cent) reported dengue data to the State Surveillance Unit, thereby undermining its objective,” added the report.

According to the report, expenditure of Rs 88.26 crore was incurred on procurement of insecticides, diluents and equipments during April 2013 to March 2016 for control of adult mosquito. In addition, there was no record of usage of insecticides valued at Rs 79.76 lakh.

The auditors also pulled up the Delhi government for spending Rs 10.04 crore during 2013-15 on awareness campaigns for prevention of dengue after its outbreak, thereby defeating its purpose.

“The civic bodies and NDMC undertook thermal outdoor fogging during the dengue season in the years 2013 to 2015 at a cost of Rs 95.10 lakh as a routine exercise without exploring the possibility of adoption of Ultra Low Volume Spray (ULV) spray which is more cost-effective. ULV is recommended as being more cost-effective than thermal fogging since no diluent is used in this technique,” said the report.

The erstwhile MCD was trifurcated in 2012 into North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). BJP has been ruling the civic bodies, elections to which are due in April, for the last 10 years.