Kolkata Municipal Corporation initiates anti-dengue drive in city
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has prepared a comprehensive scheme to check the spread of Dengue ahead of the forthcoming monsoon.
A high-level meeting was held in the chamber of Firhad Hakim, chairman of the Board of Administrators at the Kolkata Municipal Corporation headquarters on Friday. The Health Department of KMC had given instructions to the senior officials of the Boroughs about the anti-larvae drive on April 15 and 29.
Besides, Hakim, Atin Ghosh and senior officials of KMC's health department were present at the meeting. KMC will run awareness campaign against dengue alongside COVID-19 campaigns. Because of intense anti-dengue drives, no dengue death was reported from the areas under the jurisdiction of KMC in 2019, including ward 1, the areas surrounding Talla in north Kolkata, towards 144 in Maheshtala in South 24-Parganas.
Hakim told the officials of the Health Department to intensify the drive against dengue. The KMC had taken out rallies to create awareness against Dengue in all the wards in February. But the anti-dengue drives got affected after because of COVID- 19.
It was decided that the KMC employees will not enter the individual household as many owners have refused their entry apprehending that this might aggravate the spreading of COVID- 19.
The civic employees will request the residents through the public address system to get in touch with the ward vector control chief and ward health officers if they are found to suffer from high fever, runny nose accompanied by a dry cough.
The cell phone numbers of the health department officials will be given to them and KMC will give them medicines free of cost.
The civic authorities through the public address system will inform the people about the dos and don'ts to check the spread of Dengue.
Debashis Biswas, Chief Vector Control Officer of KMC said that because of nationwide lockdown people cannot move from one place to the other and the chances of spreading Dengue through humans have gone down considerably.
He said the people should clean the containers to store water once in a week along with flower vase and other flower pots. They should use mosquito nets and get in touch with doctors if they are found to suffer from fever.
The KMC health workers will spray Temephos Larvasite outside the premises, educational institutions and other institutional buildings and also clear the garbage accumulated outside the buildings.
