Eklavya Atray. NEW DELHI
Twenty-five fresh cases of dengue were reported in New Delhi on Friday, taking the official number of cases to 489. Unofficially, the number of cases exceeds 1,500.

An official from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi said the civic agency has worked out a plan to check the breeding of mosquitoes that cause dengue. "We have created information pamphlets which will be circulated among residents. After our information programme runs its course, we are going to step up challaning (penalising) from next week," said an MCD official.

Till October 31, MCD staff had visited 22,074,365 homes and found mosquitoes breeding in 44,107 of them. "We issued legal notices to 45,168 people and 4,963 of them were prosecuted, "said an MCD official. According to sources, the number of people down with dengue is much higher but this is not reflecting in the official data since many people are getting themselves treated in private hospitals.

"Unofficially, the figure comes to 1,500. Many people have got admitted to private hospitals, which is why the official statistics look quite low," said a source.

Civic agencies are blaming the disease on the stagnant water found at many Commonwealth Games sites. Many of these sites have reserves of water which are being blamed for the spread of dengue. "Many construction sites have become breeding grounds for dengue. Soon we will warn them and take action," said a source in MCD.
Uptil now, there have been two deaths caused by the disease -- one of a 15-year-old boy and the other of a nine-year-old boy. The MCD has also identified more than 47,000 spots across the capital where the dengue-causing mosquito is flourishing.