Preventive Measure is Better than…

The tentacles of Japanese encephalitis are spreading in Assam with each passing day. It is well and good that our Health Department woke up from its slumber and started taking some steps. But we feel that the government of Assam is not hitting the nail on the head. We all know that mosquito-biting is the root cause of the deadly disease. But people of how many places of Assam are benefited by the effective measures adopted by the State government is not known. As far as we know Dibrugarh district is also one of the affected districts where some people died of the disease. But nowhere in Dibrugarh preventive measures have been taken. Of course, in the interior rural areas, we are in the dark about whether or not any preventive measures are taken by the civil authority.

In our opinion, the Government of Assam should go all out to take measures in killing the mosquitoes with their eggs and to destroy all the breeding grounds (dirty stagnant water). In Dibrugarh, certain areas where construction of foot-path is either on or completed and where the drain water becomes stagnant prove to be ideal breeding ground of the mosquitoes. These are - the front side of Shankardev Hospital, the areas near the big drain in Chiring Chapori/ Amolapatty to name a few. One can see the stagnant dirty black water in all the drains of Dibrugarh, the authority should initiate action in flowing and flushing out of the dirty water of the drains of Dibrugarh. What is seen in Dibrugarh is applicable to all the drains of Assam. Moreover, we have not yet come across any fogging operation in urban areas of Dibrugarh. The Government of Assam should keep it in mind that preventive measure is better than thrusting punitive measures on doctors.

Ashok Bordoloi

Dibrugarh