Dengue check: KMC sends advisory to all Durga Puja committees

Kolkata: At a time when dengue cases are apparently on the rise in the city, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has sent an advisory to all Durga Puja committees to prevent their premises from becoming a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The advisory read: “Durga Puja, the biggest socio-cultural festival of Bengal, is at doorstep. The process of constructing Puja pandals by using bamboo structures has begun in different places around the city of Kolkata. Experts apprehension is that due to accumulation of rainwater in the cut ends of vertically implanted/inserted bamboo poles, the dengue-bearing species Aedes aegypti will breed therein in greater numbers, as a result of which people living around the Puja Pandals will fall victim

to dengue.”

The KMC advisory further said that potholes in and around Puja pandals will turn into “big source of danger if they remain unnoticed.” In a bid to prevent this, the KMC advisory read: “To resolve the problems, please seal the cut ends of bamboo with sand or mud or wrap the cut ends with pieces of cloth and level the potholes in and around the pandal areas. Besides, bamboo structures built, or to be built for displaying advertisements, too need to be kept free of mosquito larvae by undertaking the same measures as specified herein.

Hopefully, you will realise the gravity of the problem and help resolve it wholeheartedly to prevent dengue in the city of Kolkata.”