KMC to take out rallies against malaria & dengue across city on February 2

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will take out massive rallies throughout the city on February 2, 2019, to create awareness against mosquito-borne diseases.

A high-level meeting chaired by Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh was held at the KMC office to discuss the nuances of the rally.

Ghosh said the rallies will be taken out in all the 144 wards under KMC. The procession that will be taken out from the KMC headquarters on S N Banerjee Road will be led by Mayor Firhad Hakim.

Representatives of various NGOs and Puja committees along with celebrities will be requested to take part in the rally. There will be placards and posters to create awareness against malaria and dengue.

The rally will march through Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Lenin Sarani, Wellington Square, S N Banerjee Road and end at the KMC headquarters. The rallies that will be carried out in the wards will be led by the local councillors, along with important residents of the area.

Because of global warming the mosquitoes have changed their breeding season and to combat the situation, KMC is carrying out an anti-larvae drive round the year.

The awareness campaign is very important, as to get best results there should be cooperation between the civic bodies and the public, said Ghosh. He said the residents have been requested to clean the containers that are used to store water at least once a week and clean flower vases and trays used in refrigerators.

"It is for the residents to follow. But if they continue to flout the instructions and allow the containers to function as breeding grounds for the mosquitoes responsible for dengue, then it is very difficult to check spreading of the

disease. Cooperation of the residents is required to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases," he said.

The KMC has 15 dengue detection centres and blood collection centres in every ward. Every ward is manned by doctors and testing of blood samples is free.