Officials of the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) keep getting calls from residents with requests to fog their lanes.
“But recent government statistics show that fogging does not kill mosquitoes. We need to make people aware of this,” said Debashis Sen, chairman, NKDA.
Sen was addressing residents at a meeting convened by the New Town authorities on Saturday. The meeting served as a reminder for residents on dengue awareness measures and also stressed the importance of waste segregation.
The meet was held at Rabindra Tirtha and even though climate change, waste segregation and cleanliness took up major portions of the discussion, much was also centred around keeping dengue and other mosquito-borne diseases at bay.
“Segregation of waste into dry and wet waste as per different dustbins provided by the authorities is a must. It is important that this differentiation is done at the source,” said Sen.
“Often the machines that we use to treat waste break down because of some unsegregated material in the waste. We request at least two or three citizens to come forward and take the initiative to smoothen this process on behalf of every block. We have also launched a poster to spread awareness about the issue.”
While discussing the symptoms of dengue, experts said that sudden high fever with severe headache is a warning sign. Other red flags are numb ache in the joints and eyes, loss of appetite, stomach ache, tendency to vomit, minute red rash on the skin, bleeding of the gums, nose or mouth and others.
In case a patient displays these symptoms he/she needs to be hospitalised immediately. Patients are advised not to opt for self-medication, to have liquids frequently and get a blood test done as soon as possible.
A dengue awareness poster that was launched at the programme and will be put up in blocks. Showli Chakraborty
Experts also talked about how dengue can be prevented at the grassroots level. Residents were asked to ensure water does not collect in flower pots or other household items and that water tanks are cleaned at regular intervals. Sometimes discarded car batteries collect rainwater in their boxes and these need to be drained out too.
“Your gardens and bushes in surrounding lanes must be pruned so mosquitoes stay away. Also, public drains need to be plastic-free so water does not accumulate in them. Always sleep under a mosquito net. We have also released guppy fish into the canals so they can eat up all the larvae. This is an age-old method of dealing with mosquito eggs,” said Sen.
Sujoy Das, a resident of Animikha Housing Complex, complained about garbage pile-ups. “In some places of the township, we have seen garbage lying on the roadside without getting cleared. That is a major concern,” he said.
Shyam Sundar Pal, a resident of Akankha Housing Complex, said: “During monsoon, it is inevitable that water will start collecting at various places but residents have to inform the authorities whenever they see this happening. We also have to be more careful about how we dispose of garbage in our homes and within the complex. It has to be a mutual collaboration, not one man’s work alone.”