Mosquito larvae found in both La Martiniere schools

It may be recalled that two students of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in Salt Lake died of dengue recently and the school had to be kept closed for a week during which massive cleaning operation was carried out.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) team led by Atin Ghosh, member, Mayor in Council (Health) and Debashis Biswas, chief vector control officer along with staff of the health department reached the schools on Wednesday afternoon and conducted an anti larvae drive.

Ghosh said the larvae of dengue and malaria were found near the canteen and staff quarters of La Martiniere for Boys. The cover of the overhead tank was broken and he had asked the school authorities to replace it immediately. The larvae of Aedes Aegypti were found near Dhobi ghat. 

Ghosh said the school authorities had been asked to conduct cleaning every day. Ghosh said even a plastic glass which had been thrown away with some drops of accumulated water could serve as the breeding ground for mosquitoes. He said despite repeated requests, the schools had refused to listen to KMC’s warning that any container like used plastic cups or a plastic jars whose covers were missing where water had accumulated could serve as an ideal breeding ground for dengue and malaria carrying mosquitoes and so cleaning operation should be carried out regularly. He said dengue carrying larvae was found at ITI Ballygunge and appropriate action had been taken immediately.

Ghosh said the KMC would request the Education department to include awareness against dengue and Malaria in the curriculum so that children could be taught about the various steps taken to stop spreading of the disease from early age.

The KMC will start five more dengue detection centres from early September besides organising massive awareness campaign from next week. Ghosh urged people to ensure that garbage was cleaned regularly and on the roof, no broken furniture or broken flower vase or glass was dumped.

The overhead tanks and underground reservoirs should be properly covered. The containers where water is stored should be cleaned once a week and the water in flower vase should be replaced twice a week. It is also advisable to sleep under mosquito net at night, Ghosh said.