City dwellers continue to suffer as the mosquito menace comes back in many parts of the capital after the authorities concerned have failed to conduct cleanliness drives and destroy breeding grounds of mosquitoes. Authorities have not been spraying insecticides for the last few months, while mosquitoes are showing no sign of retreat even after using pesticides. The menace has added to the woes of city residents amid the sufferings from intense traffic congestion and water crisis in many areas of the capital ahead of summer.
Mosquitoes spread some viruses and diseases, including Zika virus, West Nile virus, chikungunya, dengue and malaria, with dengue remaining a public health concern in Bangladesh as it has claimed many lives over the years. The rise in the number of mosquitoes comes on the eve of summer when there would be rains, with dengue feared to be turning alarming. In 2021, at least 28,429 dengue patients were hospitalised and at least 105 of them succumbed to the disease, the second highest yearly dengue hospitalisation and the second highest yearly dengue deaths since 2000 when the menace appeared officially in Bangladesh.
Though city corporation employees are spraying insecticides, it is not working at all. Experts blamed lack of cleaning canals, drains, ditches and other dirty places as a reason for the rise in mosquitoes in many areas. The authorities should examine the field-level efficacy of the adulticide and larvicide they use to destroy the breeding grounds of mosquitoes. They said the number of culex mosquitoes usually increases in March but lack of adequate measures on the part of the authorities to control the mosquitoes puts city residents to sufferings. After the city authorities sprayed larvicide and cleaning the canals, drains and ditches, the number of mosquitoes should have decreased.
The city authorities should carry out round-the-year measures to prevent dengue as no months would be found without dengue cases. Besides, the city dwellers should first clean dirty places, stagnant water in pots, and use mosquito repellents to stay safe.
