Return of the menace

On a warm spring evening last week, Mohsin Ali, a resident of Mirpur-12, went to a local store to buy mosquito coils. Almost as if sensing his intentions and determined to deter him, a swarm of mosquitoes formed a cloud over his head, diving in at every chance.  

"It has become almost unbearable," said the private job holder as he flayed his hands trying to swat the bugs away.

Sikandar Ali, the shop owner, was also busy doing the same. "I burn coils regularly at my store, but nothing seems to keep them away. The authorities have to take steps immediately in this regard."

After a short-lived respite, Dhaka residents are now again enduring the mosquito menace, as the number of these blood-sucking insects has been on the rise.

Residents of Mirpur, Pallabi, Gandaria, Mohammadpur, Kalabagan, Kamrangirchar, Hatirpool, Moghbazar, Manda, Dogair, Dania, Uttarkhan and Adabor seem to be some of the worst sufferers.

The issue has intensified over last few weeks, said locals.

"Their [mosquito] number is just too high… we have to keep all windows and doors shut in the evening," said Shahana Azim, a resident of Kalabagan. "Even though we use mosquito net, it's not possible to stay inside the net throughout the evening," said the retired professor of Bangla.

Hasanul Huq, a resident of Mohammadpur, said mosquito presence has intensified in his neighbourhood over the last month. "I have to use aerosol every night and put up mosquito nets for protection. Otherwise, it's impossible to sleep at night in peace," he said.

Adabor resident Sagar Hasan echoed him.

Residents alleged that as both Dhaka city corporations have failed to clean the waterbodies in time, many areas have been riddled with severe mosquito problem.

In the absence of clean-up initiatives, waterbodies have become mosquito breeding grounds, they added.

A recently published survey of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) shows that several wards under both city corporations are at risk of mosquito proliferation.

'INITIATIVES FALL SHORT'

Even though the primary responsibility of controlling the mosquito population lies with the city corporations, the only step they are seen taking is occasional spraying of insecticide around households and into a few drains and waterbodies.

Ward-12 Councillor Md Iqbal Hossain Titu under Dhaka North City Corporation said they have ramped up their monitoring and anti-mosquito drives to keep the number of mosquitoes in check.

Ward-2 Councillor Sazzad Hossain said, "It's true that the number of mosquitoes have increased over last couple of weeks but we are trying our best to contain it."

He said his ward (Kalshi area) is almost three times bigger than other areas and it gets quite difficult to conduct anti-mosquito drives properly. "We have requested the authorities to double the amount of insecticide so that we can conduct drives properly."

The councillor also said there are many waterbodies of different housing companies and government agencies, which remain uncleaned and eventually become a source of mosquito breeding grounds.

"We have already issued letters to those companies to clean the waterbodies. We will go for legal action if they fail to do so," he assured.

Meanwhile, Ward-61 Councillor Mohammad Jumman Mia of Dhaka South City Corporation blamed lack of manpower and insufficient adulticide for not being able to conduct regular drives.

"We have only three people to carry out the drive even though ours is a populous area [Dania]. We are only given 10 litres of adulticide per day. I have requested the authorities to double the amount."

"I carry out cleaning initiatives in the area on my own as we don't have any cleaning worker. I need at least 10. There's also two canals, which need to be cleaned regularly. I have informed the authorities about the issue as well," he said.

Contacted, Jamal Mostafa, panel mayor of DNCC, said the city corporation is taking various measures. "We are using larvicide and adulticide as well as applying malaria Oil-B to get better result following the suggestions of entomologists."

The panel mayor, however, said it is not just the city corporation's responsibility and everyone has to play their due role.

For example, he said, "There are many waterbodies inside privately-owned properties and land owned by other authorities where mosquitoes breed. It's their duty to clean those properly."

There are waterbodies and bushes in Dhaka airport area under the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, he said. "We have held meeting with them and also issued letters to different organisations to take necessary steps."

The panel mayor said they have engaged 11 teams from March 7 to conduct anti-mosquito drives. The teams will monitor activities at every DNCC ward.

Contacted last month, Chief Health Officer Brig Gen Sharif Ahmed of DSCC said they take measures round the year to check the population of Aedes mosquitoes, which spread dengue, chikungunya and other diseases. From November to March and April, they take steps to check culex, he said.

He said they had conducted a survey in the first week of November last year and identified many hot spots of culex mosquitoes. "We also did a follow-up drive in the last part of December, and are continuing our anti-mosquito drives to bring the situation under control."

Another DSCC official said they have conducted a crash programme to destroy Aedes mosquito breeding grounds.

On March 25, DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon inaugurated the seven-day drive to destroy breeding sources of Aedes mosquitoes, which were identified by the DGHS, he said.

They have also issued letters to organisations like Rajuk, Rehab, DMP, Wasa and BWDB to take necessary steps to destroy the breeding grounds, the official added.

11 ORGS MAKING MATTERS WORSE

When Dhaka residents are finding it hard to cope with the growing mosquito menace, eleven organisations have been found helping the insect population to rise by the millions every day.

The organisations, including north and south city corporations, have around 50 canals, 12 lakes, 23 ponds, and other waterbodies spanning over no less than 4,000 bighas.

Most of them do not spend a single taka to clean the vast swatch of stagnant waterbodies in and around the capital, considered ideal conditions for mosquitoes to breed.

There are around 2,700 bighas of waterbodies under the two city corporations; the DC office of Dhaka has 35 canals; Dhaka Wasa is in charge of 26 canals; Bangladesh Water Development Board has around 93km of canals, one retention area and one pond; PWD has two lakes and four ponds; National Housing Authority has three ponds; Rajuk has three lakes and two ponds; Jute Research Institute and Shishu Academy have one pond each; National Botanical Garden has seven lakes and five ponds, and Bangladesh Road Research Laboratory has six ponds.

Apart from these, there are privately-owned waterbodies that are not being cleaned properly.

WHAT AUTHORITIES SAY

Asked, Wasa Managing Director Taqsem A Khan said they have started cleaning canals in a smaller scale. "We will launch a comprehensive drive soon."

"We dig up canals to increase their retention capacity; we do the work just before rainy seasons so that the waterbody does not get filled up with garbage before monsoon," said Taqsem.

He, however, blamed the city corporations for not cleaning up solid waste from the canals on a regular basis.

TM Rashidul Kabir, executive engineer (operation and maintenance; division 1), of BWDB, said, "We are maintaining the waterbodies under our jurisdiction on a regular basis."

However, the city corporation has to do their part as well and clean the waterbodies as they are in charge of the mosquito control activities, he said.

Rehab President Alamgir Shamsul Alamin said they have already issued multiple letters to their members and asked them to take steps so that no stagnant water remain at construction sites or project areas.

'LAX MEASURES TO BLAME'

Architect Iqbal Habib said as per the city corporation act, there is no area in the city which is not under city corporations' jurisdiction.

"They can impose fines if one does not clean a waterbody, where culex mosquitoes are breeding. They also can clean the waterbody and charge a fee for that," he said.

"The city authorities have to aware people of their responsibilities. A coordinated approach is needed in this fight against mosquitoes," said the joint secretary of Bapa.

Jahangirnagar University's entomologist Kabirul Bashar, along with a team of researchers, has been conducting surveys on the capital's waterbodies under a three-year project.

He explained that until this year, the highest density of culex mosquito larvae was found in January. It was 50 larvae in 500ml of water.

"This year, for the first time, we found about 150-200 larvae in 500ml of water in a survey conducted between February 11 and 18 in the two city corporation areas," he said.

"Rise in temperatures from mid-February is leading to increase in organic matter in waterbodies, which provides food and a conducive breeding environment to mosquitoes. The situation will turn dire, unless larvicide is sprayed," he added.

Entomologist Dr Manzur Chowdhury, former president of Geological Society of Bangladesh, said the number of culex mosquitoes, which spread diseases like filariasis and avian malaria, has gone "out of control" in Dhaka.

Lack of effective measures by the two city corporations and the absence of proper logistics are mainly to blame for the situation, he said.

"If city corporations do not start taking effective measures now, the increasing trend in mosquito population density will continue until a nor'wester hits the capital. The storm naturally kills culex mosquitoes and reduces their number," he added.

He also said there are problems in the chain of command and line of communication among the authorities concerned -- which need to be resolved.