MCD cancels staff leave till end of rains

With the Commonwealth Games  approaching and the fear of a dengue epidemic looming large, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to get its act together. On Wednesday, MCD cancelled all sanctioned leave  of its staff, announcing that it would not give leave to any of its employees till the monsoon season is over and claimed that employees of the public health department would have to work on weekends too.

Said MCD commissioner K S Mehra: "We will not give any leave to any of our employees till the monsoon is over and public health department officials will now work on weekends. Staff of other departments will also be available as per requirement."

The total number of dengue cases in the city were 297 with 20 fresh cases being reported on Wednesday. While there has been one death due to dengue in the city, there are three suspected deaths due to the vector-borne disease. According to MCD commissioner K S Mehra, fogging would be carried out twice near Commonwealth Games construction sites to prevent mosquito breeding in such areas.

Mosquito breeding was also found in MCD’s own headquarters in Town Hall and its horticulture and works departmental offices. Mehra said action would be initiated against the official who had not taken adequate steps to prevent breeding. MCD has issued 136 ‘VIP challans’ against offices of various agencies such as Delhi Development Authority, PWD, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Transport Corporation, Central Public Works Department, several government and MCD schools, colleges such as Hansraj, Gargi, Ambedkar, Shivaji and hospitals like Apollo, IHBAS, etc.

MCD has 456 hand-held fogging machines and 10 vehicle-mounted machines. Around six of the vehicle-mounted machines are not functional.