We cannot deny falling in love with the Bangalore weather. While mercury level is still rising in most of the cities, Bangalore is calm with its showers. The City has always been praised for the climate, which makes bangaloreans a little more fortunate, apart from the IT hub. The beautiful weather, chilled breeze and the drizzles, definitely gives me the feel of a hill station. I am equally scared of the health impacts that the climate is offering to all of us.
The rising pollution, garbage and the rains are inviting various diseases. There has been a rise in Dengue and H1N1 cases. Around 122 cases of dengue and chikungunya, 82 cases of H1N1 have been reported in BBMP areas from January till mid July. There are 5180 cases of dengue across the State, out of which 793 patients have tested positive. There are 232 chikungunya patients across the state. 209 cases of H1N1 have been confirmed out of 1271 suspected cases. There was a drastic increase in the number of patients, during the month of June and July,due to various reasons.
The construction of buildings, upcoming projects, indisposed garbage and the dirty lakes are some of the major causes for these vector-borne diseases. The Minister had requested the BBMP to clean tanks, lakes, pipelines and remove garbage from the streets, to prevent further outbreak of dengue and other communicable diseases. He also added that these activities must be carried out on a regular basis to eradicate these diseases permanently. The Health Department is planning to create a portal which will a platform for the citizens to vent out their problems related to health and hygiene. The citizens can lodge complaints if the Municipal Corporation fails to perform their duties. The portal will be ready within 10 days.
All of us must be extra careful to prevent being a victim of these dreadful diseases.