Pune: Water scarcity forces people to store water, which in turn, creates favourable conditions for the dengue mosquito to thrive. No wonder, dengue and chikungunya (also caused by mosquito bite) cases have shown a marked increase in Pune in the last few days. The municipal administration has recorded 117 cases of dengue and 114 of chikungunya since January. As a precaution, the state health department has directed the Pune Municipal Corporation to chalk out a micro-level action plan to curb the spread of virus. Doctors say that water scarcity due to increased storage, increasing construction activity, piling up of garbage, lack of public awareness about anti-mosquito measures and poor disease management have aggravated the problem. Kanchan Jagtap, joint director of state health department, said, "We have specifically asked the PMC to carry out an active surveillance in affected areas of Pune city. We want them to visit 100 households located in the vicinity of a positive dengue patient to rule out transmission of virus, take adequate measures to bring down mosquito density and carry out cleanliness and santitation drives to check larvae growth and propagate and educate people on measures to prevent mosquito breeding inside their houses and on the premises." Most of the 15 wards have reported dengue cases. "The areas falling in Dhole Patil Road ward office, Tilak road ward office, Bhavani Peth, Vishrambaug wada are the worst affected," said a civic health official. have been on the rise since January (63 cases, which is the highest so far), followed by February (30) and then a dip in March (8). The number went up in April (17 cases till April 14). The civic body recorded most chikungunya cases in January (68). February recorded 18 cases, March (23) and five cases in April so far. "All precautions are being taken to arrest the growth cycle of mosquitoes. People also need to be extra careful and vigilant. It is vital to tackle mosquito-breeding sites to prevent dengue," said S T Pardeshi, medical officer of health (MoH), Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). Emphasising on the importance of people's participation in checking the menace, Pardeshi said, "Most people in the city, who contracted mosquito-borne diseases, had vector breeding spots right in their homes." Mosquitoes primarily breed in containers like earthenware jars, metal drums and concrete cisterns used for domestic water storage, as well as discarded plastic food containers, used automobile tyres and other items that may collect rainwater. The only method to control or prevent dengue virus transmission is to combat the vector mosquitoes.