At a time when the Kolkata Municipal Corporation(KMC) workers are working on war footing to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the city, phone calls poured in today in the Talk to Mayor programme where citizens complained of rise in mosquito bites and feared contracting dengue.
Vector borne diseases which make their return every year after bouts of rainfall, have this time too put citizens in fear. Dengue claims a considerable number of lives each year in Kolkata. The mayor today received calls from various wards of the civic body where residents complained of growing mosquito menace.
A resident of ward 100 on Raja SC Mullick Road today told Firhad Hakim that a construction site near his house which closed down due to the lockdown, has now become a breeding ground of mosquitoes.
The recent bout of rainfall in the city for past few days has also paved the way for collection of stagnant water inside the site. The mayor ordered KMC officials to inspect the site and spray sodium hypochlorite to sanitise the area.
Similar were the woes of two more residents of ward 15 and 48 of the KMC where residents complained a certain portion of land has turned into a jungle due to lack of maintenance and hence has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.
They stressed that it is becoming difficult since the mosquito bites have increased. Though the mayor ordered sanitisation of the areas concerned, he admitted that at present due to deployment of maximum number of workers in combating Covid-19, it is difficult to clear the shrubs and bushes in those areas.
It may be noted that last year (2019), the number of dengue affected crossed 40,000 by November with hospitals struggling to accommodate patients for dengue treatment.
The mayor however said that KMC has taken up a twopronged strategy to curb spread of both Covid-19 and Dengue. Mr Hakim said sodium hypochlorite is being sprayed which will kill the Corona virus by destroying its protein layer and also put an end to mosquito breeding by destroying the larvae.