Dhaka affected by growing mosquito infestations during Eid holidays

Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka faces a surge of mosquito infestations, raising health concerns among residents. The surge is favoured by the Eid holidays, with control operations slowed down or suspended by the Dhaka North and South city corporations. The stop of fogging and larvicide actions, coupled with seasonal changes, has resulted in both Culex and Aedes mosquito populations rising sharply in different parts of the metropolitan area. Habibur Rahman, a resident of Dhaka North, told The Business Standard that mosquitoes are everywhere, forcing him to keep his young child under a net and buy repellent spray and lotion. A mosquito supervisor for the area said that it was impossible to continue operations during the Eid celebrations and that normal activities should resume in the coming days. At present, however, the situation appears quite severe, especially in South Dhaka, where there was a complete stop in mosquito control measures. Kazi Dewan, a resident of Old Dhaka, said his neighbourhood looks like “a mosquito kingdom”, with drains clogged with waste and people getting bitten even when using nets.
City officials admitted a partial suspension of mosquito eradication work during the holidays but said that around 50% of operations still went on as normal. Md Asif Iqbal, senior insect control officer in Dhaka North, added that regular actions are ongoing, but their effectiveness is limited due to rapid waste build-up. Entomologist GM Saifur Rahman warned that without control mosquito populations are destined to further increase, especially with the arrival of the rainy season. This is going to help the spread of dengue in Dhaka and other areas. In the first three days of April, 19 people have been hospitalised with the disease, bringing this year’s total cases to 1890 with 13 confirmed deaths.