A study conducted by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has revealed that 80 per cent of the dengue cases that are found in the city take place in south Kolkata while 20 per cent of them are reported from the city’s northern part.
This is because the breeding grounds like vacant land, under construction buildings, and water bodies are more in South Kolkata. The areas under Borough 8 to 14 are more vulnerable to dengue. These include Gariahat, Chetla, surroundings of Southern Avenue, and Bhelaha. The civic authorities will publish its findings in a scientific journal soon.
The KMC will slap a spot fine if anyone is caught throwing garbage on vacant land. It has has issued notices on 2100 owners of houses and apartments where mosquito larvae were found between January and April 2023 and asked them to clean the water of underground reservoirs and overhead tanks. The civic authorities have filed cases against 26 house owners who refused to comply with the Municipal Magistrate’s Court. The court can slap a fine of anything between Rs 1000 and Rs 1 lakh.
The civic officials and workers are visiting the vacant lands and are requesting the people of adjacent buildings not to throw garbage there through the public address system.
The civic authorities have set up 930 vector control teams to cover 144 wards in addition to 16 Borough Rapid Action Teams and 16 Central Rapid Action teams. These teams are visiting hospital campuses, police stations, commercial establishments and market places as a part of Dengue prevention drive. Those who maintain these buildings have been asked to remove broken furniture from roof tops , empty tea cups and used tyres. Larvae carrying dengue are born in clean water. Rain water is accumulated in empty tea cups and tyres and they serve as potential breeding ground.
The KMC has given training to 1750 field workers by using a digital microscope at the Mosquito Research Centre in Moulali so that they can identify the larvae. Also, they have been trained about the right technique which should be followed to spray mosquito repellent.
The civic authorities have requested people to get their blood tested at the urban health centres situated in every borough free of cost if they are found to be suffering from fever.