Dengue alert: KMC issues advisory to Puja committees

Kolkata: The Health department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Monday cautioned the Puja organisers to ensure that the bamboo structures for the pandals are free of stagnant water as the mosquitoes responsible for causing dengue can breed in these tiny water pockets in such structures. Pandal construction has started in full swing with Durga Puja at the doorstep.

Chief Municipal Health Officer, KMC Ranita Sengupta has written to all the clubs within the KMC area that organise Durga Puja requesting them to take preventive measures so that ‘Aedes Aegypti’ and ‘Aedes albopictus’, the two known vectors of dengue, cannot breed there.

“These two mosquitoes responsible for causing dengue can breed even in small quantities of stagnant rainwater, including that which collects inside bamboo made structures at Puja pandals under construction or soon to be constructed. These newly-born mosquitoes can carry the dengue virus, posing a serious threat of transmission in the locality. To avert such risks, strict vigilance and timely preventive action are essential,” said a senior official of KMC’s Health department.

The advisory states that the Puja committees should wrap the cut ends of all vertically-placed bamboo poles with cloth to prevent water collection or alternatively, seal cut ends with mud or sand. They should remove rainwater immediately from any potholes, pits or low-lying areas around the pandal site and ensure that bamboo-made structures erected for advertising spaces near pandals are also kept free of stagnant water. The vector control teams from the Health department of KMC will be visiting Puja pandal sites regularly to extend guidance and ensure compliance. Sengupta, in her communique, has sought cooperation from the organisers for keeping the pandal and adjoining areas mosquito-free.