Reza Mahmud :
Dhaka South City Corporation has chosen frogs to eliminate mosquitoes from the city’s water-bodies including drains.
Before it DSCC had used guppy fish and ducks but failed to defeat mosquitoe breeding.
Candidly use of pesticides also brought no good results for the city dwellers, indicating that efforts to ruin mosquitoes one after another failed.
After failing in different ways to get the citizens rid of mosquitoes menace, the city corporation started collecting frogs from different areas of the country to release them in water bodies.
But Entomologists expressed their reservations saying it would not bring any positive result in eliminating mosquitoe breeding.
Sources said, the DSCC officials planned to destroy mosquitoe breeding hubs of any measure. But using pesticides and fogging machines are bringing no positive results so far.
In these circumstances, the officials are thinking of every alternative to combat the mosquitoes as they are in fear of returning of the mosquito born diseases like chikunguniya and dengue fever which caused huge fatalities in earlier years.
DSCC Mayor Barrister Fazle Noor Taposh has been trying with his highest efforts to fight against mosquito menace as it was his election manifesto.
After being elected as mayor, Fazle Noor was trying with farming fishes in ponds and other waterbodies and rearing ducks to preventing breeding of mosquitoes larvae, but got no positive results yet.
The fishes once disappeared from the waterbodies, while the ducks do not stay in water.
The experts said the fishes died and the ducks are found reluctant to stay in water because that water is seriously polluted.
As a latest alternative, the DSCC brought about 15,000 frogs from different areas of the country and released in several ponds and water-bodies in its jurisdiction recently.
Meanwhile, the officials of the DSCC also have no faith in getting positive outcome from this effort.
DSCC Chief Health Officer Brigadier General (Dr) Md Sharif Ahmed failed to receive phone call while trying to get his comment in this regard.
When contacted, DSCC Chief Executive Officer A. B. M. Amin Ullah Nuri said, “We just released some frogs collecting from village areas as a test case to eliminate mosquito larvae to get rid from mosquito menace.”
He said it is not confirmed that we can destroy the mosquito larvae with farming frogs, but it is a test case. We are trying with possible alternatives to give city dwellers relieve from the menace, he explained.
The CEO however, said, if it show any positive outcome, then the corporation will bring more frogs and to release them.
But Entomologists said it will not be fruitful.
Chairman of the Center for Governance Studies (CGS) and prominent Entomologist Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury said, “The city corporation’s initiative to use frogs against mosquito breeding may not be fruitful. Farming ducks and frogs may not able to eliminate mosquitoes. There is no such example in any country in the planet to destroy mosquito breeding hubs using ducks or frogs.”
He said, it will cost money and time of the city corporation, some people may inspire them to do so.
