Mumbai:
The malaria mayhem in Mumbai, that took the civic authorities by surprise, may have come under control. However, what is worth giving a thought is that, how could the numbers soar so unexpectedly?
One may be able to find the answers by taking a closer look at the state of government municipality hospitals in the city.
Cleanliness and hygiene, the basics that one expects to find in any hospital, are a miss in the hospitals of Mumbai that are battling to control malaria.
Close to 300 posts of workers responsible for hygiene in hospitals are lying vacant during the worst phase of the malaria outbreak. The hospitals don't have enough nurses when the flow of patients is uncontrollable.
The state of affairs is so that even the doctors who were treating the malaria patients have themselves fallen sick.
Not just staff shortage but equipment shortage is another challenge for the hospitals. Close to 40% of the fogging machines are not working, the ML oil stock required for anti-larvae treatment have not arrived still, the current stock of expensive oil has not been effective so far.
This is how prepared Mumbai is while fighting one of the worst outbreaks of Malaria.
However, the city Municipal Corporation is now taking a note of the discrepancies. Certain corrective measures have also been put in place.
"A massive cleanup drive is underway. We believe that awareness is also increased among people. Also identified areas where we getting maximum patients from," said Swadhin Kshatriya, Municipal Commissioner, Mumbai.
From outsourcing testing of blood samples to walk-in interviews for nurses, the municipal corporation is now resorting to measures to tackle the menace of monsoon illnesses.
But it's too little too late for a city that has been on the edge for over a month now.
Over fifteen people have died in the city in the last two months due to the outbreak. Everyone is asking why the municipality was so unprepared for a situation that arises every year?
All fingers point to the slack attitude of the civic administration which may have been the very cause of this crisis.