Civic body initiates special anti-dengue drives in Kolkata

KOLKATA: Kolkata Municipal Corporation ( KMC) has intensified its drive against dengue to prevent spread of the disease.

So far, about 150 people have been afflicted with the disease.

A senior civic official said the city has received around 450 mm rainfall in 2022.

Though there is scanty rainfall, there are spells of rain which gives rise to rain water pockets.

These pockets serve as the breeding ground for the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes that causes dengue.

To combat spread of the disease 4 to 5 wards in the city have been identified and special drives are being conducted. Special drives have also been conducted in thirty seven wards, where malaria has taken place.

There are urban clinics in all the 144 wards in the city. There are 33 Rapid Action Teams out of which 17 are Borough Rapid Action team and 16 are Central rapid Action teams. There are 930 vector control teams that visit houses and the reports they gather are send to Swasthya Bhavan daily.

There is one senior Entomologist and three vector control officers to oversee the anti-dengue drives.

The official said the WHO has stated that out of 390 million cases of dengue across the globe, 294 million cases are asymptomatic.

In 2020 and 2021, people did not move from one place to the other so the disease did not spread.

In 2022, life has become normal and the silent carriers are moving from one place to another without knowing that they are carriers.

The civic authorities are conducting awareness drives regularly requesting people to use mosquito nets at night and clean the containers where water is kept at least once in a week. The water in flower vases also should be cleaned once in a week. Plastic cups, broken furniture which are often stacked on the roofs should be cleaned before heavy rain hits the city.