Dengue alert: Mayor urges Puja organisers to prevent water accumulation in pandal materials

Kolkata: Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim urged Puja organisers to stay vigilant and ensure that no water pockets are formed in the materials used for constructing Puja pandals. The construction of pandals at various places in the city is underway in full swing. “The holes in bamboo and tarpaulins in folded condition may result in water pockets that encourage the breeding of Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes that are responsible for causing dengue. The Puja committees should ensure that stagnant water does not remain in and around the Puja pandals,” the Mayor said. He advised the Puja organisers to use hoardings and do miking related to dengue awareness during the Puja. “Awareness among the people is the key to combat dengue and we should not stop in spreading awareness as we are ready to soak in festive fervour,” he added. Till mid-September dengue cases in Kolkata have been nearly 90 per cent less in comparison to 2023. This year 410 people have been affected with dengue against 3802 last year.

The malaria cases have also decreased by 47.22 per cent with 3019 persons getting affected by the mosquito-borne disease against 5720 next year. The Mayor advised the citizens to go for dengue tests in case of symptoms of dengue-like fever at Kolkata Municipal Corporation Health centres which are present in every ward of the civic body. In some wards, the number of such clinics is more than one.