The Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) do the task of cleaning drains and aqueducts of the city, as well as control the breeding of Dengue-bearer Aedes mosquitoes by spreading medicines. The City Corporation said they do these tasks regularly. However, the effect of their works is not visible yet. The crash programme is just confined to its name and the Aedes mosquitoes breed and moves freely in Chattogram. As a result, the people are getting affected and dying each.
Chattogram City Corporation conducted crash programme once in the current month and twice on June 4 and 22. The city corporation said they conducted the crash programme in various ways. But, the mosquito-killer medicines are not spread properly. The persons engaged in spraying medicines confined their activity just in the place of initiating crash programme and they don’t do it it beyond the announced schedules. The most detrimental thing is they come and spray on the roads instead of going to the narrow lanes or mosquito-affected areas.
Irshadul Alam, a resident of Ghat Farhad Beg area, said “Spraymen are never seen during normal times. Now even during dengue outbreak season, no one is seen spraying medicine. But, from time to time we hear about the crash programme. Don't know where the medicine is sprayed. City Corporation failed to control Aedes mosquitoes.”
Morshedul Alam Chowdhury, additional chief cleaning officer of CCC, said, “Spraying of medicines is done regularly. As a rule, two spraymen are spraying medicine in each ward. All these works are supervised by a supervisor. But compared to mosquito breeding places and drains, medicines are less. So maybe its effect seems negligible.”
According to city corporation sources, currently there are 200 spray machines, 120 fog machines and 360 people working in the cleaning department. City Corporation identified 433 mosquito breeding hotspots in the city. It also identifies 57 spots where dengue has been detected. At the same time, in a survey conducted by the office of the Chittagong Divisional Health Director, it has been revealed that 30 percent of the houses in the city were found to have dengue-carrying Aedes mosquito larvae. Moreover, mosquito density has increased by 46 percent in 21 wards.
According to the Civil Surgeon's office, dengue cases and deaths are occurring in Chattogram every day. Two people died in the city from last Friday morning till Saturday morning and 124 people were infected newly. So far, 65 people have died due to dengue and a total of 7,677 people have been infected. 329 people were admitted to the hospitals due to dengue. Among them, 141 people have been admitted in Chattogram Medical College Hospital, 35 people in general hospitals and 153 people are admitted in 14 Upazila Health Complexes. This year 7,348 people returned home after taking treatment and recovering from the disease.
(The report was published in Bengali on print and online versions of The Bangladesh Pratidin on September 17 and rewritten in English by Lutful Hoque)
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