LAHORE: The Co-operatives department has declared 70 of its 162 housing societies vulnerable sites to dengue virus and has decided to carry out an effective fumigation in these areas along with 92 other societies in Lahore and other parts of the province.

The 70 housing societies include Punjab Board of Revenue, Engineering University Employees Co-operative Housing, Government Servants Co-operative, Irrigation Co-operative Housing, Nasheman-i-Iqbal, Al-Hejaz, Revenue Employees, Pakistan Medical, Marghazar, Government Transport Headquarters, Planning and Development, Military Accounts, Agrics, Friends Mutual, LCCI, Canal View, Telecommunication, Kakezai, Telegraph and Telephone, Lahore Canal Bank, Aitchison, Jurest Homes, Government Employees, Gosha-e-Ahbab, Audit and Accounts, Jaffria Co-operative, LDA Employees, Jamiat, King Edward, Gulshan-e-Khursheed, Punjab Small Industries, Awaisia Co-operative, PCSIR, NFC, Co-operative, Accounts Group Officers, PASSCO, Abdalians, Education Town, The Engineer, NESPAK, Judicial Employees, Ghee Corporation, Model Awan Town, Islamia College, Alpha, River View, HH Agha Khan, Ahbab, Excise and Taxation, College Teachers, PCSIR Staff, The Bankers, State Life, Pakistan Technocrates, SNGPL, Greater Lahore, Model Town, PIA, Punjab Co-operative, Punjab Government Employees, Pakistan Rajput, WAPDA Town, Iqbal Avenue, Co-operative Engineers Town, Pakistan Expratiates, LARECHS, Rail Town and HBFC Society."Under first step of an effective action plan, the department is going to launch a massive awareness campaign in all of our 162 functional societies to educate the residents about adopting precautionary measures to avoid dengue," Co-operatives secretary Khalid Masood Chaudhry told reporters at a press conference at the DGPR office here on Monday.

Flanked by additional secretary Muhammad Abdullah Shahid, Mr Chaudhry said that other important activities included training/capacity-building workshops for officials as well as members of housing societies, cleanliness drive, larvaciding, anti-mosquito thermal fogging, indoor residual spray, monitoring and evaluation and complaint resolution in connection with eliminating dengue virus.

He said the anti-dengue campaign launched by the department under special instructions of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif would be supervised by two focal persons; the joint registrar (housing) and the district officer (Co-operatives), who heads the main control room.

He said the department had already launched a cleanliness drive in all of its operational housing societies in Lahore and other parts of the province in collaboration with Lahore Waste Management Company, town/tehsil municipal administrations, city district governments and non-government organisations.

Mr Chaudhry said that the department had started anti-dengue campaign with its own administrative, logistic and financial resources and the managements of Co-operative societies.

"The Co-operative societies are operated under a concept of self-help basis through elected representatives of societies. The department regulates and monitors societies and directs them to implement the plans/strategies assigned by the government."He said Lahore was a major cluster of Co-operative housing societies, as department's 120 residential schemes of the total 162 existed in Lahore alone.

He said an immediate action would be taken against the managements of Co-operative societies which ignored the department's instructions to carry out anti-mosquito drive effectively. "If anyone wants to lodge complaint against any of the officials in this regard, he or she may contact me directly," the secretary said.