Mosquito menace hits Dhaka, rain stokes fears of dengue, chikungunya

Mosquitoes have once again beset Dhaka although the threats of dengue and chikungunya fever are still at bay. But sudden rains deepened fears of the diseases.

Mosquito repellents and even nets have fallen inadequate for safety from the menace in some neighbourhoods.

People living in Kalshi, Uttara, Bashabo, Bhasantek and Mohammadpur complained about city administrators’ failed efforts to curb the problem.

Fazlul Hoque, who runs a teashop in Mirpur’s Kalshi, said he needs to use mosquito coils even in the daytime to help customers sit comfortably.

Repellents are of no use, said Firoza Begum, a housewife from Bhasantek who has not been able to have a good night’s sleep for days due to mosquitoes.

Similar accounts came from Fahmida Hoque in Uttara Sector 5 who has been battling for the last two weeks to save her infant from mosquito bites.

City dwellers complained that measures by the city corporation authorities brought no significant change.

On the other hand, the Dhaka South City Corporation has mentioned a ‘crash programme’ to tackle the situation.

Culex mosquitoes mostly seen in Dhaka carry less risks of diseases, health experts say. But aedes, the bearer of dengue and chikungunya, may grow by leaps and bounds as untimely rains have swept the city in the last two days, they said.  

Photos taken by bdnews24.com show how drains and ditches in Hatirjheel have turned into hubs for mosquitoes to breed.

The mosquito menace even delayed a flight at the Dhaka airport on Thursday. The Malaysian Airlines flight Boeing 737-A took off two hours behind schedule from the Dhaka airport as cabin crew had to kill the mosquitoes first. 

Uttara Sector-7 resident Atiqur Rahman said most of the drains in his neighbourhood were left without lids, as a result, risks of mosquito-borne diseases have gone up.

“We live on the fourth floor and there are mosquito nets on all the windows. Still mosquitoes fly in,” he said.

Nargis Begum, a housewife living in Shanir Akhra, keeps lights on at night to save herself from the mosquito bites.

Kawsar Ahmed, a resident of Bashabo’s Kodomtola, claims that he saw no initiative lately in his neighbourhood to kill mosquitoes.

“Mosquito is a common problem in winter. I live on the eighth floor and am still suffering. Think about the people who live on the ground floor,” said housewife Tasrin Akter, who lives in Shekhertek, a neighbourhood in Mohammadpur.

Dhaka North City Corporation Panel Mayor Md Osman Gani rejected the claim that there had been no initiative by the authorities.

“We are spraying insecticides. But nothing is helping,” said Gani. “So we have decided to change our policy and take up a crash programme. It will be discussed on Tuesday.”

Dhaka South Mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon has claimed that the menace was less intense in Old Dhaka.

However, Dhanmondi, Rampura, Khilgaon and Kamrangirchar are seeing the menace, he said.

About 70 percent of the areas in DSCC were comparatively free of the problem, he claimed.

Announcing a crash programme to start on Wednesday, he said: “We will hit one zone with our men and machines and clean it in a way that it remains free of mosquitoes for at least seven days. We will run the crash programme in five zones.”

The mosquitoes that are present across the city now are mostly Culex. They bear less risks of diseases, said Dr ASM Alamgir, senior scientific officer at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research or IEDCR.

“They bite but are not responsible for diseases. But they are annoying. Some mosquitoes may infect Filariasis in some areas outside Dhaka,” said the physician.

Dhaka and other parts of the country have witnessed sudden rains and storms since early Monday.

“Aedes mosquitoes are born in water. People should make sure that no water is stored inside and around their residences,” said Dr Alamgir.