Kejriwal encourages students to become 'dengue warriors'

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday encouraged school students to become "dengue warriors" and spread awareness about a campaign run by the Delhi government to tackle the vector-borne disease in their neighbourhood.

Kejriwal took a "dengue prevention class" via video conferencing and asked the students to spread awareness about the "10 minute 10 weeks" campaign in their locality. Under the campaign launched from September 1, people are expected to devote 10 minutes at 10 am every Sunday for 10 weeks to ensure that there is no stagnant water in their homes which could allow breeding of mosquitoes. The campaign will conclude in mid-November.

Kejriwal said in an address, "This is just a 10 minute class..dengue prevention class. We have been running '10 minutes, 10 weeks' campaign ahead of mosquito breeding season to ensure that there are no mosquito larvae. I want the students to be involved in the campaign and be ambassadors in the neighbourhood to encourage everybody to constantly check their houses and change or remove any stagnant water."

The CM said, "Mosquito eggs take 7 to 10 days to hatch. If we drain the water stored in our houses on the seventh day, then the eggs will not hatch. We have to check our house. It does not take more than 10 minutes to do it."

Kejriwal announced that students will soon get "dengue kits" in schools which will include pamphlets about the campaign explaining how dengue mosquito breeds and how it can be avoided.

"The kits will also have stickers saying 'my house is dengue free'. Once you have checked your houses, paste the sticker outside your house. There will also be "dengue warrior" badges for students in the kits," he added.

The Chief Minister had on Monday interacted with principals of government and private schools and directed them to encourage students to take the message of making houses dengue free in their neighbourhood by maintaining cleanliness. The schools were asked to make arrangements for the interaction as well as for screening a film about the campaign.