The New Nation - Internet Edition

Sarker Nazrul Islam

Mosquito has become a menace in the cities and towns of the country. It is, in reality, an annual exercise. It scares the city dwellers with a risk of malaria, dengue and other diseases of which mosquitoes are the carriers.

Lakes with dirty liquid covered with water hyacinth and other aquatic herbs, drains with stinking stagnant water, pools of industrial chemical discharges and human wastes at different corners of the city, and rotting garbage and unhygienic latrines in the slums are the ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes. During the rainy season these insects multiply at a faster rate. Such is the situation that exists now. Mosquito Control Wing (MCW) of the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) occasionally takes different programmes to contain the ultra increase of the insects but have so far failed to bring expected results. MCW recently implemented a 16-day crash programme in which all the wards of the city were brought under the larvicide and adulticide drives. But the insects proved to be too stubborn to be controlled. The MCW had assured the people that it would control the mosquito influx. But the situation reportedly turned for the worse.

Life in a mosquito-ridden city has become simply difficult. The poor and the floating people are the worst sufferers. The city dwellers are now spending a lot for mosquito nets and repellents to protect themselves. But very often they prove to be inadequate for the same. In this situation, the people in the city remain susceptible to malaria and other mosquito borne diseases. There are chances of spread of malaria in the city also. So, birth controlling of mosquitoes has become urgent and an immediate priority.

The MCW is poorly equipped to face the challenge. It must immediately be equipped with adequate manpower and necessary logistics. Drains must be repaired and cleaned to facilitate passing out of water. Regular cleaning of the drains be introduced to keep them free from becoming the breeding ground of mosquitoes. Arrangements for serving the drains once or twice a day by running water might reduce mosquito hazard considerably. Whatever actions are taken that should be on a regular basis, not on contingency or ad hoc manner. Occasional sprays of insecticide are not enough to free the city from the hazard. A master plan needs to be taken urgently. Along with these measures, a crash programme for eradication of malarial germs might also be taken.

Civil bodies, NGOs - we have enough of them by now - and the city dwellers themselves must volunteer in unision to fight mosquitoes back. Only a civic sense of cleanliness - of the home and the area around - may keep the city clean and free from mosquitoes or else it will not work. The slogan be - keep clean or suffer the dirty mosquito bites.