As part of Delhi Government’s ‘10 Hafte 10 Baje 10 Minute’ campaign, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday visited residential areas of the city, requesting people to check mosquito breeding in their surroundings.

Highlighting the reason of launching this campaign, Kejriwal said over 15,000 people were diagnosed with dengue in 2015 and 60 people lost their lives. "Almost 2,700 cases were reported in Delhi in 2018. We were warned by doctors that this year, there is a possibility of a sudden spike in cases because the dengue outbreak follows a cycle of 3-4 years. The Government started this mega drive against dengue to prevent vector borne diseases," he added.

Explaining the rationale behind the stress on a weekly inspection, Kejriwal said "The dengue mosquito's egg turns into a full grown mosquito in 8-10 days. So if we allow clean stagnant water to remain still for more than 7-8 days, it will definitely increase the chances for the mosquito to breed," he added.

"The good thing is that the solution to this is very simple. It will take just 10 minutes every Sunday morning for 10 weeks. All you have to do is pour out clean water wherever you find it in your house or your surroundings. It is as simple as that."

Kejriwal also inspected his home and posted pictures of him inspecting his own home for the third Sunday in a row, as he replaced water from flower pots. He tweeted "Today is Sunday. I have just checked my home for dengue mosquito breeding spots. Have you checked yet? I will visit some of you today to check whether you have inspected your home yet. Maybe I will visit your home, too."

The chief minister on Sunday visited areas in Gole Market, Kohat Enclave and Burari. He was accompanied by MLAs Jitender Singh Tomar and Sanjeev Jha in Kohat Enclave and Burari areas respectively.

 The Chief Minister also visited West Delhi's Tri Nagar area, where he addressed resident, claiming that data showed the campaign was "successful" so far and cases of dengue were on the decline. Under the campaign launched on September 1, people are expected to devote 10 minutes at 10 AM every Sunday for draining stagnant water that could lead to breeding of mosquitoes. The campaign will conclude in mid November.

"I am very happy that this campaign has been successful so far and dengue has been controlled for the time being. There were many cases of dengue 3-4 years ago. As per cycle of the disease it was expected to recur on big scale this year but data show dengue has significantly declined in Delhi," Kejriwal said.

The dengue mosquito has a range of 200 metres so if people check their houses and encourage their neighbours to do it, Delhi will be saved from the disease, he said in Tri Nagar.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also inspected his house and visited his constituency to ask people to follow the suit. Health Minister Satyendar Jain visited Paschim Vihar area of his constituency Shakurbasti to spread awareness.

The campaign gained tremendous support from celebrities like Kapil Dev, Javed Akhtar, Taapsee Pannu, among others. In the third week of the campaign, the chief minister directed his colleagues in the Cabinet to work towards encouraging mass participation in the campaign.

"The nature of dengue is such that only individual families can protect themselves from harm. Therefore, there is no alternative to a mass movement against dengue. I have asked other Ministers of the government to visit residential areas and encourage Delhiites to check their homes. Together, we can save Delhi from dengue," he said. Following the directions of the Chief Minister, the entire Cabinet of the Delhi government visited different parts of the city to make people aware of checking breeding in their homes.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain also visited at Pashchim Vihar and briefed residents about the impact of stagnant fresh water.  Minister Imran Hussain, along with a group of local residents distributed pamphlets with information about dengue mosquito and the precautions residents must take to prevent dengue in Ballimaran.

Cabinet Ministers Kailash Gahlot, Rajendra Pal Gautam and Gopal Rai also visited parts of the city as part of the campaign.

The Delhi government is planning to partner with over 3,000 RWAs across the national capital as part of the campaign for more intensive inspections in residential areas of the city.

The number of dengue cases recorded till September 7 stood at 122, with 30 of these reported in the current month and 52 in August.

Last year, 2,798 dengue cases and four deaths were recorded by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which tabulates the data on vector-borne diseases in the city. Both the Delhi government and the local bodies have been making efforts to raise awareness among the people on precautions to ensure that there is no breeding of mosquito larvae in and around their houses.