Not just Covid, the authorities are also taking measures to check the incidence of dengue in the township.

District magistrate of North 24- Parganas, Sumit Gupta, went for an inspection of micro-containment and “high-risk” zones of Salt Lake and Duttabad on Tuesday and also looked into the the measures being taken by the corporation to counter the outbreak of dengue in the township.

Gupta was accompanied on his inspection by Krishna Chakraborty, chairperson of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation’s board of administrators, Biswajit Panda, sub-divisional officer, Bidhannagar, and other senior civic and health officials.

“This inspection was organised as monsoon is here and the dengue-causing Aedes Ageypti mosquitoes breed in stagnant fresh water. After a spell of rain, water accumulates in tyres, flower pots as well as ditches,” said a senior civic official. “The district administration wanted to find out the steps taken on the ground to check the increase of dengue as well as Covid-19.”

Gupta said that although the number of dengue cases was quite low in the areas falling under the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation's 42 wards, the review survey was carried out to ensure that cases do not increase anyhow. “We want to ensure that no water is allowed to accumulate. We shall spray larvaecide and conduct door-to-door surveys to keep tabs on the dengue situation. Last year, dengue was well under control and we want to ensure the safety of residents this time too.”

The team visited the Duttabad area and also CK and EC block markets to take stock of the measures taken by the civic body.

Nirmal Dutta, ward co-ordinator of Duttabad, pointed out to the team that there were multiple ponds in the area and requested for guppy fish to be released in the ponds. “I asked the officials to help me procure guppies so we can release them in the ponds. I have also undertaken a drive to clean the open drains in the area,” Dutta said.

Chakraborty said they were indeed planning to release guppy fish in all ponds as well as the Kestopur and Eastern Drainage canals. Apart from the fish, larvicide will be poured in the canals using rowboats. “We are already spraying larvicide and will also start an awareness campaign. I will place a request with the irrigation department to release water from the Ganges into the canals,” Chakraborty added.

Last year, the dengue count in Salt Lake was within 200.

Chakraborty also has a roadmap to control Covid. “We are not taking any chances and are setting up micro-containment zones in areas where cases have gone up suddenly and are monitoring them regularly,” she said.

“The number of fresh Covid cases being reported in the corporation area is less than 30 a day now,” a senior official of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation”s health department said.

There are more than a dozen micro-containment zones in Salt Lake, Baguiati, Ashwininagar and parts of Rajarhat.

Is micro-containment zone demarcation an effective way to control the pandemic? Write to us with your contact number at The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or email to saltlake@abp.in