Dengue: KMC identifies 12 wards with 5 or more suffering
KOLKATA: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has identified 12 wards where 5 or more people have been afflicted with dengue.
These wards are 6, 26, 53, 59, 69, 74, 83, 93, 94, 112, 117 and 121.
The civic authorities have identified areas where special anti dengue drives are being carried out. These roads are — Dilarjung Road in Borough I in North Kolkata, Ramesh Dutta Street in Borough IV in North Kolkata. Taltala Library Road in Borough VI in Central
Kolkata. Ahiripukur Road, Kali Temple Road and Gurupada Halder Road in Borough VIII in South Kolkata and Govindapur Colony and Rahim Ostagar Road in Borough 10 in South Kolkata.
Mayor Firhad Hakim and Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh who heads the KMC’s Health department met senior civic officials of various departments like Building, Solid Waste Management, Conservancy and Health on Saturday and it was decided that the senior officials in the Borough will meet every Saturday and review the situation. They will launch special drives as and when necessary in areas where people will be afflicted with the disease.
Atin Ghosh said the KMC’s health department officials will launch an awareness campaign in every area on the dos and don’ts through the public address system. They will distribute pamphlets also.
Debashis Biswas, OSD and Chief Vector Control Officer of KMC said because of global warming the breeding season of the Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes has changed. In rural areas people are being found to be suffering from dengue, as Aedes Albopictus, another variety of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, have been found. These mosquitoes lay eggs inside the holes that are found on trees. Clay is required to seal such holes.
He said about 229 people in the city were suffering from dengue in 2022 between January 1 and July 31 against 216 in 2019 in the corresponding period. He maintained that in 2020 and 2021 during Covid, the KMC’s health department was busy vaccinating people and as the people did not move from one place to other in 2020 and 2021, about 150 and 75 dengue cases had been found during this time.