The two city corporations – Dhaka north and Dhaka south – allegedly use outdated, diluted, and ineffective mosquito killing agents, thus making it easier for them to increase their numbers. So, we can see that mosquitoes get a warm environment for their breeding. It is really hard for any mayor to see the procurement of anti-mosquito chemicals personally, so it is difficult for them to stop corruption in the process. The main tasks of spraying insecticides by people who are the lowest ranked personnel of the two DCCs, are unfortunately the lowest in terms of morale too. They have reportedly no incentive to spray regularly in all areas making it difficult to stop the menace at the ground level.
We do remember a key promise in the manifesto of the first elected mayor of the undivided Dhaka City Corporation in 1994, which was combating the mosquito menace. A BNP leader eight years later succeeded him as the mayor and said the measures taken by the AL leader to solve the problem fell short of people’s expectations. Dhaka city has seen a rapid unplanned urbanisation with changes to its infrastructural and environmental landscape since then. City dwellers however hardly got a respite from the mosquito nuisance. Of course it’s easy to see why the mosquitoes arise time and time again to crate discomfort for 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 city’s canals and water bodies remain stagnant for many months of the year–thus provide a perfect breeding ground for the insects.
If the authorities concerned do not employ sophisticated methods of vector control as in developed countries like Singapore it will be difficult to stop the menace. The sooner the DCCs improve their performance in tackling the mosquito menace the better.
