Mosquitoes are back with a vengeance

It defies logic that every year we have to editorialise on the onslaught of mosquitoes before the rainy season begins. The puzzling lethargy of the city corporations in taking pre-emptive measures to tackle the mosquito menace makes it seem as if it is a new phenomenon. But we have all learnt the bitter lesson of allowing mosquitoes to breed—through the continuous epidemics of dengue and chikungunya that have wreaked havoc on the city-dwellers the last few years. So with such a bitter experience, should we have not learnt our lesson?

A recent report in this paper has found that mosquitoes are proliferating everywhere—in homes, slums, hospitals, airports, and open spaces. This despite the hefty budgets—Tk 25.6 crore for DSCC and Tk 20 crore for DNCC—of the city corporations to procure chemicals and machines to combat the breeding of this deadly insect. Instead, our reporters have found that major water bodies and drains are infested with mosquitoes, and households are at their wits' end trying to combat the onslaught with sprays and mosquito coils that are proving to be ineffective, not to mention harmful to health. So what have the respective city corporations done with these budgets in the way of fighting these killer pests? So far it seems precious little.

It is now the beginning of the "mosquito season" and city-dwellers are already very anxious about how they will be spared of mosquito bites that may cause those dreaded diseases that have also led to some fatalities. There seems to be a total collapse in the municipal facilities of the city corporations. We, therefore, demand that the respective city authorities take up this task immediately and adopt effective measures—with chemicals and extensive cleaning of water bodies and drains (which they should be doing anyway)to make this city mosquito-free. We can hardly aspire to be a middle-income-country with our major city being in the grips of this insidious insect.