KMC on war footing to eradicate dengue

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) may use drones to locate mosquito breeding grounds at the vacant land owned by the Railways near the Bailey Bridge in ward 81.

A team of KMC led by Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh went to ward 81 on Thursday to conduct the anti-dengue drive. The team found that the land belonging to the Railways has not been maintained properly and it is covered in shrubs and bushes.

The team then visited Sahapur colony, where 14 people had been afflicted with dengue in 2018. The team examined the surroundings and told the residents about the dos and the don'ts.

KMC has been carrying out anti-dengue drives throughout the city, with a view to eradicate the disease. Most of the drives are led by Ghosh.

The civic authorities had launched a massive anti-dengue campaign on February 2, when 144 rallies were taken out in the city to create awareness against the disease. The main rally was taken out from the KMC headquarters on SN Banerjee Road, which was led by Mayor Firhad Hakim.

It has been decided that the civic authorities will carry out drives against dengue in three phases.

The first phase, which started in February, will continue till June. The second phase will start from July and continue till October, while the third phase will be the follow-up phase that will be carried out in November and December. The civic authorities have also opened 16 dengue detection laboratories.

The KMC teams are visiting individual houses, housing complexes and institutional buildings and are examining the underground reservoirs and overhead tanks. They are also checking whether garbage has been cleaned properly or not.