DCC dupes taxpayers into futile aerial spray

Having miserably failed to control mosquito, the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has planned an 'absurd and unscientific' programme of spraying larvicide from aeroplanes, which experts say would be another waste of taxpayers money.

Although Local Government and Rural Development Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan has given the DCC a deadline of two weeks to rid the city of mosquitoes, the task remains fully unfinished even after 13 days.

The taxpayers would be robbed because the capital's skyline is not suitable for aerial spray. Besides, larvicide needs to be hand-sprayed in ditches, drains and small ponds.

Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka told The Daily Star on Saturday that the DCC would charter private planes for the programme.

An international tender would be floated within "a day or two" to invite bids for the planes, the mayor said. The cost of the latest DCC anti-mosquito programme is still not known.

The DCC has 585 spray men and a wide range of equipment to fight mosquito menace in the city. It has a budget of Tk 19 crore for anti-mosquito programme for this fiscal.

However, the reality is the corporation does not have the fund available, and since Khoka took over in April last, the city dwellers have not seen any coordinated mosquito control activities.

Meantime, dengue fever has emerged as a major concern for the city and sales of mosquito repellent and insecticide for indoor use have peaked.

Although the mayor has promised that the programme would start in the first week of February, officials said if the procedure to charter planes starts now, it would take at least six more weeks to launch the drive.

By the time the mosquito control drive starts, there would not be any need for it as the usual nor'wester would blow away the mosquitoes.

Meantime, experts said spraying from planes would not be very effective because of the high-rises. They said the DCC should rather use its ultra low volume (ULV) fogger machines and hand sprayers.

Entomologists also expressed their surprise at the DCC decision to spray larvicide from aeroplane. They said it is a totally unscientific proposition as larvicide has to be used in mosquito breeding grounds mainly surface drains, small ditches and dirty ponds. So, it is a strange idea to spray larvicide from the sky on a large scale.

The mayor said the DCC plans to spray larvicide and adulticide on the entire city once. If the result proves good and viable, the programme would continue round the year.

Entomologist Dr Towhid Uddin Ahmed of Dhaka University said it would be better to carry out ground fogging with the ULV foggers.

Another entomologist, Dr Sadia Ahmed of Jahangirnagar University, also said aerial spray of larvicide is a waste of money and the task can be better carried out using the sprayers of the DCC.