The Kolkata Municipal Corporation and some other municipalities of south Bengal are using drones for the spread of larvicide and also take photographs of dengue affected areas in order to prepare a map of pin-pointing critical zones.
The KMC plans to use the drones on potential mosquito breeding grounds that are out of reach to workers who are spreading larvicides to stop the spread of dengue. The spray can stop the spread of the disease, that has killed 23 persons and affected over 40,000 people in West Bengal from January this year.
The Serampore municipality and KMC have already been using drones to search for dirt or accumulated water in inaccessible places like terraces and various other places hidden from public view.
Meanwhile, in Hooghly’s Serampore, the Bharatiya Janata Party organised a sit-in protest on Thursday for the administration’s failure to tackle the menace. A market in Serampore was closed down by the municipality as it was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The municipality officials said that the market authorities had been notified four times before.
Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim said that people should put up a joint effort in fighting dengue in which everyone should come forward. He said that people should be aware and themselves take steps in ensuring that there’s no accumulated water in their neighbourhood. Unless people become aware, no amount of attempts on the government’s part can fight dengue, he said.
