The Kolkata Municipal Corporation board chairman Firhad Hakim today said that amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the corporation has adopted a two-pronged approach so as to ward off dengue as well.

The KMC is spraying the city roads with sodium hypochlorite to prevent the outbreak of vector borne diseases.

Mr Hakim said “This year we had begun dengue drives since early and because of Covid-19 we have taken up a two-pronged approach. We are also making the public aware about the do and don’t which include one should not let water collect in corners and in the premises of their residences. Thorough cleaning should be carried out within the premises. He assured that KMC will clear the trees that have been pushed to the roadsides to prevent water from collecting in them.”

Mr Atin Ghosh, in-charge of the health department had yesterday said that KMC had taken up the campaign against vector borne diseases from January. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has also been conducting the usual blood tests at the health centres to test for vector borne diseases. What is bothering the civic body officials, as per KMC sources, is identifying whether fever symptoms are that of Covid-19 or dengue. Mr Ghosh said wherever our teams are going for dengue drive, they are also checking for collected water.

He said, “Few sporadic cases of dengue have been reported but that is not alarming since dengue mosquitoes attack throughout the year. We can’t stop mosquitoes but can take preventive measures against them.”

We are conducting borough-wise meetings to discuss the situation in the wards under each of the 16 boroughs. Our teams are also conducting door-todoor visits where they are enquiring whether one has fever. Every day data gets recorded.”

Meanwhile, Hakim said that a meeting was convened with the cable operators who have been told to remove all dead overhead wires else KMC will be forced to cut off these wires several of which lay scattered throughout the city post Amphan.

He said “We have asked them to immediately identify the dead wires since this has caused huge problems after the cyclone. “