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Mosquito menace increases as floodwaters recede

SABRINA KARIM MURSHED
***At least 530 spraymen are operating in 90 wards under the DCC with anti-mosquito chemicals. They go on a larva-killing drive once every week in prospective breeding spots in their respective localities***
With floodwater receding, mosquito menace has compounded the miseries of residents in the city as stagnant water in different areas has created ideal breeding scope for the insects.
"It becomes unbearable especially after dusk. Spraying insecticide or using mosquito repellent coils hardly helps. Only mosquito nets provide relief but you can not stay inside one for ever," said Nirobesh Dio, a staff of Notre Dame College in Arambagh.
Officials of the DCC's health department said they were using larvicide to curb the mosquito problem. Although they had stressed on the use of adulticide or killing of adult mosquitoes earlier, they were now more focused on extinguishing the larva.
"Larvicide is the only scientific process to eliminate mosquitoes as it destroys the breeding process," said Dr. Azizul Haque, chief health officer of DCC.
He said people think that the anti-mosquito drive is on only when they see DCC personnel using fogger machines to kill adult mosquitoes.
"But adulticide spraying fogger machines do not always ensure elimination of mosquitoes as effec-
tively as larvicide," said Haque.
The DCC has a health officer, a supervisor and spraymen in each of its ten zones to fight the mosquitoes. At least 530 spraymen are operating in 90 wards under the DCC with anti-mosquito chemicals. They go on a larva-killing drive once every week in prospective breeding spots in their respective localities.
"Earlier only one chemical called Fanitox was available but now another one Limbat is also being used," the chief health officer said. He claimed Limbat to be ten times more effective than Fanitox.
"Two millilitres of Limbat has to be mixed with ten litres of water where as it required 20 millilitres of Fanitox," said Haque adding that the chemicals are imported mostly from China, Singapore and India as a health product only after technical screening and bio-efficacy tests.
When asked whether spraying once a week was good enough to quell the mosquito menace, the chief health officer said that they had taken special measures for flood-affected areas where they were spraying thrice a week.
"We have ordered more spraying in zones one and four as people in those localities were suffering more than the others," he said.
At least 530 spraymen are operating in 90 wards under the DCC with anti-mosquito chemicals. They go on a larva-killing drive once every week in prospective breeding spots in their respective localities
A top official in one of the zonal offices of DCC said that sometimes larvicide does not stay as effective as half of the larva goes down into the water when chemical is sprayed in a particular area.
"By the time spraymen return to the same spot, the living larva underneath the water become adults and the problem remains," he said.
But the chief health officer said that spraymen have been directed to stir the water while spraying chemicals. "Not a single larva can survive if they stir the water while spraying," he said.
Haque informed that the DCC is importing larvicide worth Tk 17 crore to fight the mosquitoes. However, he admitted that more manpower, machinery and fund was necessary to make the city totally mosquito-free.
"We need larvicide chemical of Tk 50 crore for the population of 1.5 crore in the city," he said.
Haque hoped that despite the limitations, the DCC drive would see success.
"We have even warned the health officers, supervisors and spraymen at zonal offices that they risk losing their jobs if they fail to prevent mosquito breeding in their areas," he said.