CITY dwellers of Dhaka are in a panic due to the growth of mosquitoes and dengue infection every day. Many residents complained that ongoing drives against mosquitos are not effective in the city due to the use of substandard insecticide. Before the nor’easters, that usually strike in early April, these two months form a vital time due to mosquito breeding due to favourable temperature. The city authorities must take quick and effective actions to spray insecticides into drains, and destroy mosquitoes along with larvae in stagnant water. The effectiveness of the insecticide must be checked before purchasing those.
Officials said the two city corporations are taking necessary steps to curb the mosquitoes and dengue infections regularly, but the progress is not satisfactory. Entomologists said in other seasons we generally found the density of mosquitoes between 40 and 50, but in the winter season, we noticed the density around 100. Awareness building is equally important for eradicating mosquitoes. City dwellers should be aware of the cleanliness of their surroundings and destroy the breeding grounds. The country experienced a massive dengue outbreak in 2019 when 101,354 people were hospitalised. According to the health authorities, the mosquito-borne disease killed 179 people that year.
While it is true that mosquito-borne diseases have again struck, our overall preparations towards handling the diseases spread by mosquitoes have been woefully inadequate. The authorities should have clearly been more proactive in dealing with the problem before it hit. Nevertheless, there is still time, we believe, for the authorities to minimise the threat posed by such diseases if they act quickly and prudently right now.
In the longer run, we must do more than simply killing mosquitoes; we have to create a healthy environment where mosquitoes cannot breed in the first place. Stagnant pools of water keep forming all over the city at time it rains, and if that remains the case, the mosquito menace will keep aggravating every year, no matter how we manage to destroy mosquitoes.
Officials said the two city corporations are taking necessary steps to curb the mosquitoes and dengue infections regularly, but the progress is not satisfactory. Entomologists said in other seasons we generally found the density of mosquitoes between 40 and 50, but in the winter season, we noticed the density around 100. Awareness building is equally important for eradicating mosquitoes. City dwellers should be aware of the cleanliness of their surroundings and destroy the breeding grounds. The country experienced a massive dengue outbreak in 2019 when 101,354 people were hospitalised. According to the health authorities, the mosquito-borne disease killed 179 people that year.
While it is true that mosquito-borne diseases have again struck, our overall preparations towards handling the diseases spread by mosquitoes have been woefully inadequate. The authorities should have clearly been more proactive in dealing with the problem before it hit. Nevertheless, there is still time, we believe, for the authorities to minimise the threat posed by such diseases if they act quickly and prudently right now.
In the longer run, we must do more than simply killing mosquitoes; we have to create a healthy environment where mosquitoes cannot breed in the first place. Stagnant pools of water keep forming all over the city at time it rains, and if that remains the case, the mosquito menace will keep aggravating every year, no matter how we manage to destroy mosquitoes.
