Harish Rao cleans his home as part of 10:10:10

HYDERABAD: Telangana Minister for Finance and Health Harish Rao on Sunday led from the front when he embarked on the '10:10:10' initiative against the spread of dengue fever. Sending across the message that 'hygiene and sanitation begins at home', he personally conducted a sanitation drive on the premises of his residence.

The '10:10:10' initiative is a clarion call for the public seeking their voluntary response to contain the mosquito menace that cause the spread of dengue fever. In a nutshell, it means 'spare 10 minutes at 10 am on every Sunday for 10 weeks' to keep their premises clean and mosquito-free.

Harish Rao personally cleaned the surroundings and removed stagnated water from under flower pots besides clearing garbage from the premises. These are the potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes that spread diseases including dengue.

Driving home the message that "our health is in our hands", the minister advised the public to regularly clean all water stagnation points in their houses. He said that day-time mosquito bites were the main cause for the dengue fever.

The minister said that there was a need to prevent it together and called upon all the people to spare 10 minutes every Sunday clear the garbage and stagnated water around their houses to prevent dengue.