Dengue outbreak is on the rise in the country amid the ongoing pandemic, and the two Dhaka city corporations have taken various steps to eradicate the menace. However, city dwellers are questioning their efficacy.
Following the outbreak of dengue in the last few years, various projects, initiatives and plans to control the aedes mosquito have been adopted.
According to the two city corporations, this year they are giving more importance to mosquito eradication than before.
However, even then dengue is seemingly not coming under any sort of control. The number of dengue patients is increasing every day. Wahidullah Amin, a resident of the capital’s Rayer Bazar area told Bangladesh Post, "Every day the news states that the city corporations are doing various things to control dengue. However, in reality I do not see any worker spraying mosquito repellants. The city corporation should increase the number of staff to spray the repellants.”
While talking to this correspondent, Zunayed Ahmed, a resident of the Badda area of the capital made the same allegation. He said, "I heard that Badda is one of the 17 hotspots for dengue in Dhaka. However, I have not seen anyone from the city corporation spraying mosquito repellant in recent days.”
According to the Department of Health's ‘Health Emergency Operations Center’, the highest number of dengue patients of the year was identified in July. In one month, 2,286 dengue patients were identified, most of whom were from the capital itself. The number is seen to be increasing in the ongoing month of August.
On the first day of the lockdown being lifted, 213 new dengue patients were admitted in the hospitals. 188 were admitted to various government and private hospitals in the capital and 25 outside of Dhaka.
According to the regular dengue report, the following day saw 242 new dengue patients admitted to hospitals across the country. Of them, 221 people were admitted to various government and private hospitals in the capital Dhaka and 21 outside Dhaka.
At present, the total number of dengue patients admitted to various government and private hospitals in the country stands at 896. Of them, 824 were admitted in 41 government and private hospitals in Dhaka. The total number of patients admitted otherwise is 72.
Residents of two city corporation areas of Dhaka have questioned the role of city corporations in controlling the spread due to the dengue’s rise in the capital.
However, the city corporations state that they are taking regular actions to control dengue. Regular operations are being carried out to eradicate the aedes larvae. According to data from the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) public relations office, they are conducting daily campaigns and public awareness activities to control dengue.
Reports state that a fine of Tk 1, 77,200 was recently collected in 13 cases by the mobile court to curb the spread of aedes mosquito, dengue and chikungunya in the DNCC area. Along with the campaign, public awareness messages were spread by mike announcements. Furthermore, the slogan message of ‘Clean accumulated water once every three days’ is being campaigned for.
According to the DNCC daily reports, aedes larvae were found in 963 installations after inspecting 110,091 installations in the North of the capital between July 27 and August 9. At that time, a fine of Tk 48.99 lakh was levied in 236 cases filed by the mobile courts run by the executive magistrates.
On the other hand, Dhaka South City Corporation public relation office also stated that operations are being conducted in the DSCC areas to control the spread of dengue. During recent operations, 12 buildings and institutions were fined Tk 1.74 lakh through 8 mobile courts of DSCC.
The South City Corporation has set up a control room to identify the source of dengue larvae. A hotline number is provided to share information on aedes mosquito breeding grounds to control dengue. The DSCC has asked city-dwellers to call 01709900888 and 029556014 to provide information about dengue breeding grounds.
Moreover, 'Shobar Dhaka' mobile app’s emergency contact number 333 for emergency services and 09602222333 and 09602222334 hotlines of DNCC have been launched for the people of Dhaka North City Corporation.
For the welfare of the city dwellers, free dengue testing has been arranged in 46 urban health centers of DNCC.