Kejriwal thanks Delhi residents for participating in his anti-dengue drive

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday thanked Delhi residents for their "enthusiastic participation" in his government's anti-dengue drive, which, he said, resulted in the cases of the vector-borne disease coming down nearly to half compared to their number last year.

A Delhi government statement said the latest data released on Monday show there have been 467 cases of dengue in Delhi till October this year, while there had been 830 cases of dengue during the corresponding period last year.

"The data released till October 12 show there has been no dengue death in Delhi this year, while there had been four deaths last year with the number of casualties due to this vector-borne disease in preceding years being in double-digit figures," it stated.

Kejriwal had launched "10-hafte, 10-baje, 10-minute" campaign earlier this year, exhorting Delhi residents to look for stagnating waters in and around their homes for ten minutes every Sunday for ten weeks and and dispose them to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

"The chief minister has appreciated Delhiites' efforts and while thanking them for participating in the drive, he has appealed to them to remain alert at lest till November 15," the statement added.

According to a municipal report released on Monday, the cases of dengue have spiked in the national capital with at least 111 of those being reported in the last one week.

The number of malaria cases recorded till October 12 has also risen to 459, it said.

October alone has seen 185 cases of dengue while 190 cases were reported in September.