COMBATING the mosquito menace was a key promise in the manifesto of the first elected mayor of the undivided Dhaka City Corporation in 1994. Eight years later, a BNP leader succeed him as the mayor, said the measures taken by the AL leader to solve the problem fell short of people’s expectations. Since then, Dhaka city has seen a rapid unplanned urbanisation with changes to its infrastructural and environmental landscape. City dwellers hardly got respite from the mosquito nuisance. Of course it’s easy to see why the mosquitoes arise time and time again to take their vengeance on poor Dhakaites. They are quite happy to breed in a city which has seemingly been so hospitable to them as far as we can see. The cities canals and water bodies remain stagnant for many months of the year — thus providing a perfect breeding ground for them.
On top of that both the City Corporations use outdated, diluted, and ineffective mosquito killing agents, thus making it easier for them to increase their numbers. Thus we can see that mosquitoes get what is known in Bengali as ‘jamai ador’– a colloquial term referring to the first class treatment received by husbands of the newly married. It will be personally difficult for any new Mayor to see the procurement of mosquito repellents personally — thus making it difficult for them to stop corruption in the process. The main tasks of spraying fall to the lowest ranked personnel of the two DCCs — who are unfortunately the lowest in terms of morale as well. They have no additional incentive to spray regularly in all areas, thus making it difficult to stop the menace at the ground level.
Unless we employ sophisticated methods like vector controls as Singapore has we will find it difficult to stop the menace. This is something which the new Mayors can do — but would they do it is another thing.
