The sustained campaign launched by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal against the spread of  Dengue through its awareness campaign bore the impact as vector borne diseases in the national Capital came down to 1,998 as compared to 2,798 cases in the year 2018. According to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), apart from 1,998 cases of dengue, there were 300 cases of chikungunya and 798 of malaria.

It may be recalled that in one of the worst outbreak of vector borne diseases, a total of 12,221 chikungunya cases were reported in Delhi in, 2016, out of which 9,749 were confirmed.

This year the cases of chikungunya came down drastically owing to the focused campaign by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government to sensitise the people against the factors that caused this disease.

Among the areas falling under the three municipal corporations, cases of breeding were reported. As per the statistics North Delhi Municipal Corporation reported 74,820 cases, SDMC 64,703 cases and  40,449 cases were reported in East Delhi Municipal Corporation.

Meanwhile, mosquito-breeding has been reported at 17,9,972 households in the city.

Delhi Government’s initiative started in this year to check houses for stagnant water, had garnered a massive support from public and several other well-known personalities across the country, including cricketers, Bollywood actors and famous journalists.

The civic bodies also issued 14,2,997 legal notices to various people and establishments after mosquitogenic conditions were found in their houses or premises.

During the corresponding period last year, notices were sent to 18,7,210 households. At least 17,7,118 prosecutions have also been launched after breeding were found, the municipal report for the 2019 stated.

According to municipal health officials, domestic breeding of mosquitoes is one of the main factors responsible for people contracting these vector-borne diseases.

"Water coolers, storage utensils, bird and dog-feeders left in the rain, are known to be typical places where Aedes mosquito breeds. Most of the breeding detected in these waste products left in open by our 'Dengue Breeding Checkers', the official said.

However, concerned over sporadic reports of dengue and chikungunya at the beginning of this year has prompted the civic bodies to issue an advisory on prevention and control of vector-borne diseases in Delhi and called for prevention of mosquito breeding by source and made it clear that the reduction is the only effective tool for prevention and control of these diseases.

Dengue and chikungunya are caused by the bite of Aedes agypti mosquito, which breeds in clear water, while Anopheles mosquito, which causes malaria, can breed in both fresh and muddy water.

"We have been appealing to people through our campaign to not allow stagnation of water in coolers or dog-feeders, which become a hot breeding ground for Aedes mosquitoes. Our domestic breeding checkers (DBCs), who go to inspect houses, are often denied entry by people, so we are unable to check the growth of vectors inside houses," said a senior corporation official.

Besides, all the three corporations have also taken a number of measures to prevent mosquito breeding, including creating awareness by using various media, deploying more dengue breeding checkers,

and desilting of drains, the official said. The south body has decided to spray insecticide named 'Alpha Cyper Methrin' which remains effective for three months from the date of spraying, an SDMC official said.

A senior SDMC official said the spraying of insecticides he has regularly been done throughout the year.

"The spray will be especially concentrated in JJ and rehabilitation colonies as these areas are very suitable for breeding," he said.

With the move, the SDMC officials believe that the approaching menace of vector-borne diseases can be checked as the mosquitoes will be paralysed after coming in contact with such insecticide.

Indoor residual spraying (IRS) with insecticides is the main vector control strategy adopted in the National Vector-Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) in India to control malaria transmission.