To make the ongoing Dengue awareness campaign — 10 Hafte 10 Baje 10 Minute — more effective on ground, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi is joining hands with Resident Welfare Association (RWAs) on Saturday.

In this context, Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RWA apex bodies URJA and Citizens' Alliance.

While signing the MoU, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address 3,000 RWAs at Talkatora stadium for taking forward the Dengue and Chikunguniya awareness programme. "Anti-Dengue campaign of the Delhi Government is getting support from people across the spectrum. The participation of RWAs is very important for us as they can ensure that this truly becomes a mass campaign," Jain said.

While thanking URJA and Citizens Alliance for their support, Jasmine Shah, Vice-Chairman DDC said, "Within a short span of 4 years, the number of Dengue cases in Delhi has drastically come down by 80 per cent due to continuous efforts made by the Delhi Government. We will reach out to all RWAs across the capital and ensure each and every resident of Delhi joins this campaign."

The RWAs who pledge their support will be urged to participate in the campaign by carrying out checking in their respective areas, especially the common areas like parking, terrace.  The RWAs will also encourage houses under them to maintain a Dengue free atmosphere and provide them with information materials like pamphlets and stickers on Dengue.

Ashutosh Dikshit from URJA said, "We welcome the initiative of the Delhi government  to eradicate Dengue from the city. From URJA we will inform as well as exhort all RWAs to come forward and actively participate in this drive. We will advise RWAs and their members to inspect their respective locality and households regularly so that clear water does not pool in the area.

Suchita Meena, the General Secretary of Citizens' Alliance who also pledged support said, " This is the first of its kind experiment in India to eradicate Dengue from the city. We are very honoured to be a part of such a Government initiative. "We all have witnessed the devastating effects of Dengue illness but from this time we will be a part of the drive to eradicate Dengue,"Meena said.

"Without the active participation of the citizens with Government, goals cannot be achieved. Therefore, we will mobilise citizens and make them aware of this campaign. With the help of the Delhi Government, we will ensure from our side that the inspection of water deposition happens every day at our localities and we will make Delhi Dengue-free, she added.