Tirunelveli Government MCH fined for breeding mosquitoes

MADURAI: People as well as health and revenue officials were shocked while hospital authorities were embarrassed as a mosquito breeding ground was spotted on the Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital (TVMCH) premises on Sunday. The hospital is a tertiary care centre for people suffering from dengue and H1N1.

A fine of Rs 2,000 was slapped on the hospital after larvae were spotted by commissioner for revenue administration (CRA) K Satyagopal who was in the district on Sunday to check the efforts taken to curtail spread of dengue, H1N1 and viral fever.

District collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish and officials and staff from the health department accompanied the CRA during the inspection.

Satyagopal inquired about the number of people getting treated for dengue and H1N1 and inspected the hospital premises. He spotted larvae in water in a bag in the sump room of the hospital.

On his direction, the district collector slapped a fine of Rs 2,000 on TVMCH.

Satyagopal told reporters that the TVMCH premises was clean and neat. They had difficulty in spotting mosquito larvae on the premises.

“We inspected the hospital for about half an hour. It was generally clean,” he said and added that it was unfortunate to find water stagnated in the bag through a hole and mosquito had laid its eggs there.

“However careful we are, the mosquito is looking for gaps to breed. Though we are taking efforts to eradicate mosquito, we have to be even more careful. We have advised the people concerned,” said the CRA.

The government alone could not succeed in fighting dengue, he added. Everyone should check for water stagnation at home, school and in their workstation and destroy the fresh water breeding sources, he said.

Hospital dean S M Kannan told TOI that workers and supervisors engaged in cleaning had been instructed to be more careful.

Satyagopal also inspected Sri Kanthimathiambal Girls Higher Secondary School near the hospital. After interacting with the students on dengue and mosquito breeding, he inspected the school premises.

Mosquito larvae were found in water collected in an empty chips wrapper. A fine of Rs 1,000 was slapped on the school.