Times Report
To tackle the worsening dengue situation in the capital, the Dhaka North City Corporation has deployed drones to identify mosquito breeding sites, especially on rooftop gardens.
DNCC Chief Executive Officer Selim Reza launched the survey program in the Mohammadpur area around 11am on Wednesday to identify accumulated water on rooftops.
The drone survey is going on in five areas under the DNCC.
Last year’s drone deployment yielded good results, said the DNCC official.
In addition, anti-mosquito drives will continue from July 8 to 13, he said.
Selim said: “It will take 15 working days to complete the survey in the entire Dhaka North City Corporation area. It started today (Wednesday). But the survey also depends on weather conditions.”
While responding to reporters, he said the DNCC decided to employ drones to inspect whether water has accumulated on rooftops, aimed at eliminating Aedes mosquitoes.
Over the next four days, five separate drones will be utilized to survey the rooftop of every house in the city.
Conducting surveys by physically visiting each roof is not feasible due to the close proximity of houses in the city, said Selim.
He added that mobile courts will also work to facilitate the survey activities.
Immediate fines will be imposed if mosquito larvae are discovered on roofs, he said.
The official also urged residents to maintain cleanliness in their yards to avert breeding of Aedes mosquitoes, which carry the dengue virus.
Last year, images of 365,000 North City homes were collected. Out of this, 2,800 houses had roof gardens. Mosquito larvae were found in about 25 of them. It is not possible to identify larvae with drones. However, water can be identified in roof gardens.
Fatalities from dengue continue to soar alarmingly in the country, with five more people, including a teenage female college student, dying in a 24-hour span ending at 8am Tuesday. With the latest deaths, the death toll from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh surged to 61 this year.
As of June 30 morning, the death toll stood at 47 this year. This means 14 people died in just five days.
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne illness that occurs in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Outbreaks of the disease are usually seasonal, peaking during and after the rainy season.
