Unlike last year during the pandemic, the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) will not sanitise the public areas regularly with disinfectant this time. Last year, the corporation used several lakh litres of one per cent sodium hypochlorite solution to sanitise public areas like railway station, bus stops, marketplaces, hospitals, health centres and containment zones. The corporation had even sanitised residential colonies initially last year for a few months besides sanitising the public places. However, the MCD officials stated on Friday that the corporation would sanitise only hospitals, health care facilities and affected areas like containment zones where the administration finds Covid-19 positive cases. "The large scale spraying of sodium hypochlorite solution in open places can be harmful to public health. Even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the dirt present in open areas inactivates the disinfectant which would make no difference to the Covid-19 virus that might be present there but it might cause health issues like respiratory issues and eye and skin irritation problems,” said the chief municipal health officer Dr Kailash Joshi. However, Joshi added that the corporation has   been regularly sanitising the Covid affected areas, containment zones and hospitals across the city. He also said that if the MCD receives any orders from the State government to sanitise the public places, the municipal health section would sanitise such areas. Since the corporation has limited stock of one per cent sodium hypochlorite, it would seek help from the government too, he said.

Meanwhile, the municipal commissioner, Vinay Shankar Pandey has formed teams and directed them to start fogging in the city on Friday and Saturday as a preventive measure against dengue. As per his directions, the fogging would be done from 5 PM to 6 PM with the help of 10 machines in the selected wards.