Rajshahi townspeople in grip of mosquito menace

RAJSHAHI, Apr 02: A menacing mosquito infestation has made public life quite unbearable in Rajshahi city in recent time.
The city-dwellers even cannot get rid of the trouble by burning mosquito coils, spraying insect repellent aerosols and by using mosquito killer rackets.
The increase in mosquito infestation has fueled fear of severe outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue.
As a result, many people are forced to hang mosquito nets not only at the very early night, but even during daytime.
Two children Mohtadi Islam (6) and Shahriar Arbin (4) live with their family in a rented house in Soto Bangram area of Rajshahi city.
Visiting their house, this correspondent found that Mohtadi was trying to write grammar in a notebook kept on a small plastic tool inside the mosquito net.
Younger brother Shahriar was looking on attentively sitting next to him.
Asked why they were inside the mosquito net at noon, their mother said that this step was taken to escape from the torture of mosquitoes. Day and night life has become miserable due to nonstop mosquito bites.
The same situation is prevailing in the residential halls of Rajshahi University.
Students have to suffer from nagging mosquito bites during classes and exams in the daytime.
Recently, Rintu Chakma, a student of Amir Ali Hall of the university, wrote the university's name in the form of abbreviation- 'RU' -in English with mosquitoes and uploaded the picture on Facebook.
The picture caught the attention of netizens in a short time. In the caption, he wrote, "Art jumped out of my mind after being bitten by mosquitoes while studying for the exam."
When asked, Rintu Chakma said, "I killed more than 100 mosquitoes in just two and a half hours and wrote RU. It is not possible to study amid mosquito bites."
Not only Shalbagan and the university area, the entire Rajshahi city has the same picture.
On the ground floor of the building, there is no escape from mosquito attack.
City-dwellers said that there is no regular water flow in the city drains. Drain water mostly remains stagnant and this condition mainly results from the lack of cleaning work.
Mosquitoes lay eggs in the drain water. These drains become ideal places for mosquito breeding accelerating outbreak of various water-borne diseases.
Even the Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) authorities appear to be indifferent regarding taking pragmatic steps to control the mosquito menace.
The RCC authorities claimed that fogger machines were being sprayed regularly in two shifts -in the morning and afternoon. Soon all drains in the city will be cleaned.
Afzal Hossain, a resident of Upashahar area of the city, said, "Mosquitoes attack when you sit down to have ifter with family after fasting all day. Same situation is seen during Sahri. Even with coils, sprays and electric bats, there is no escape from the attack of mosquitoes."
Altaf Hossain, a schoolteacher in the city's Dabtala area, said that it was impossible to say how much the mosquito infestation has increased.
Mosquito infestation is also felt on the tenth floor of a multi-storey building, he added.
And the condition of the lower floor is almost the same day and night.
Recently a 10-member committee was formed to strengthen the mosquito control programme from the RCC's cleanliness department.
Nizamul Azim, convener of that committee and RCC panel mayor, said, "Special operations are being carried out by the RCC everywhere to control mosquito menace. Larvicide spraying (application of chemicals to kill mosquitoes) is being intensified in every drain of the city. Besides, importance is being given to keeping the drain water flow normal."
Salim Reza Ranju, deputy chief cleaning officer of the RCC, said, "Every day, morning and afternoon, insect repellents are being sprayed with fogger machines in two shifts. Drains are cleaned regularly. A city-wide clean-up programme will be launched soon. Apart from this, an awareness campaign is being carried out to stop garbage dumping in drain."

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