There has been a sharp rise in the budget to fight the mosquito menace in Dhaka over the past few years, but both the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) have failed to fight the mosquito outbreak, leading to an alarming rise in the number of dengue patients in the city.
According to media reports the two city corporations have spent Tk131 crore in the last five years, with the DSCC alone spending Tk66.76 crore, while the DNCC spent Tk64.2 crore during the same period.
According to DNCC Chief Accounts Officer Nazrul Islam Azad, Tk25.5 crore was allocated to control mosquitoes in the city corporation in 2019-20 fiscal year.
A significant share of the budgetary allocation remained unused in both the city corporations, officials concerned said.
The fund for DSCC rose by nearly 150% to Tk28.5 crore in the last fiscal year, up from Tk11.5 crore in 2016-17. The amount stood at Tk25.6 crore in 2017-18 fiscal year.
Md Khademul Karim Iqbal, chief accounts officer at the DSCC, said the annual budget outlay is meant to procure insecticide, necessary equipment and also to uproot grass.
The funds that were unused in 2019-20, 2018-19 and 2017-18 amounted to Tk7.8 crore, Tk13.5 crore and Tk3 crore, respectively, he added.
“It is true that the allocation has been increasing consistently over the last few years, considering the overall situation,” he said, adding the trend is likely to continue in the next budget.
However, the DNCC authorities could not provide details about the budget of the previous years despite repeated requests.
Dhaka Tribune desperately tried to get an explanation from the authorities of both city corporations as to why they allocated the rising funds and did not spend them despite the regular outcry against mosquito menace.
‘Ineffective insecticides’
According to entomologist Kabirul Bashar the insecticide used by the two city corporations is not powerful to destroy the Aedes mosquitoes.
“The insecticide actually controls Culex mosquitoes, not Aedes. It is sprayed in drains, water bodies and on both sides of roads which are home to the Culex mosquito,” he told BBC Bangla recently.
Bashar, also the member of a DNCC technical committee to check the effectiveness of the insecticide, went on saying water stagnant at homes, buildings and their surroundings are the main breeding centres for Aedes mosquitoes.
“A well trained manpower is needed to fight Aedes mosquitoes; that too, at the right place, but the two city corporations failed to do so,” said Bashar.
When contacted, DNCC Chief Health Officer Brig Gen Md Momimur Rahman Mamun refuted the allegation, saying: “The statement is just his (Bashar’s) personal opinion since we have conducted tests to prove the effectiveness of the insecticide that we used.
“The insecticide was proved effective against both the genera of mosquitoes (Aedes and Culex),” he claimed.
“We had the tests conducted at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research under the Health Ministry, and plant protection wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension,” he concluded.
In mid-June, several news reports citing a study of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh or icddr,b claimed that majority of insecticides used by the city corporations are ineffective against Aedes mosquitoes.
