Bengaluru’s anti-dengue drive delivers results; Cases drop by 50 percent: Report
Bengaluru: Preventive measures in Bengaluru seem to be yielding positive results, with the city reporting less than half the dengue cases so far this year compared to the same period in 2024.
According to data from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) health division, as cited by Deccan Herald on Friday, the city recorded 824 dengue cases between January 1 and June 4, representing 48.1% of the 1,712 cases reported in the same period in 2024. A significant drop is evident, with May 2024 seeing 782 cases alone, while this May saw 299. Additionally, 70 cases have been confirmed in the first four days of June.
The Mahadevapura and East zones have been the hardest hit, registering 301 and 150 cases, respectively. Last year, these two zones together accounted for 861 cases by the end of May. Officials reportedly attribute the high number of cases in these areas to the concentration of ongoing construction activities, where building and roadwork continue throughout the season. Dengue cases in Bengaluru traditionally surge between May and August.
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao recently highlighted that nearly half of the state's dengue cases are being reported from Bengaluru. In response, 240 health inspectors and 700 volunteers have been deployed to combat the outbreak.
“Mosquito breeding control measures are ongoing, but we must not lower our guard. Households must avoid water stagnation and alert authorities to to any construction sites flouting norms,” DH quoted Suralkar Vikas Kishor, Special Commissioner (Health), BBMP, as saying.
In a bid to enforce compliance, the BBMP has issued 3,583 notices to builders and construction managers, collecting fines totaling Rs 37.9 lakh. In the past week alone, 93 notices were served, generating Rs 1.09 lakh in fines. Mahadevapura Zone was found to have the highest number of violations.
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PM Modi, myself don't have 'wife issue': Rahul Gandhi
New Delhi (PTI): In a friendly banter, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he didn’t have "the wife issue", as the Congress MP emphasised that everyone has learnt from women in their lives.
Participating in a debate in the Lok Sabha on the three bills introduced for amendments to the women's quota law and setting up a delimitation commission, Gandhi said women are a driving force in the national imagination and national perspective.
"All of us in this room have been influenced, taught, and have learnt a lot from women in our lives – from mothers, sisters, wives," Gandhi said.
"Of course, the prime minister and myself don't have the wife issue, so we don't get that input, but we have our mothers and sisters," he said while referring to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju's light-hearted remark that he got a scolding at home as he did not pen a poem for his wife like Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal did.
Gandhi also lauded his sister and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
"Yesterday, I was watching my sister achieve in five minutes what I have not been able to do in 20 years of my political career – make Amit Shah Ji smile," Gandhi said to peals of laughter.
