Dengue cases will keep rising unless people become conscious and take steps to prevent mosquito breeding, mayor Firhad Hakim said on Sunday.
Hakim said it was not possible for any government or civic body to locate each and every mosquito-breeding site, in each and every household.
The dengue virus is spread by Aedes aegypti mosquitoes.
“If people keep throwing small tea cups or other small containers here and there, they will turn into mosquito-breeding sites if water accumulates in them. It is not possible for any government or civic body to clear all such containers,” the mayor said.
“People have to be more responsible. The way our climate is changing, dengue will happen. Only a conscious and aware population can keep the rate of infections in check.”
Hakim expressed the hope that the rate of fresh infections would decline as temperatures start to drop with the onset of winter.
Experts say the Aedes aegypti mosquito breeds in hot and humid conditions and in stagnant freshwater.
This newspaper reported on Sunday that West Bengal this year recorded the highest cumulative figure of dengue infections till a year’s 43rd week since 2017.
The state reported 42,666 cases till Thursday. Figures before 2017 are not available.
Around 4,500 cases have been reported from the Kolkata municipal area this year till Thursday.
Many people have died of the disease.
On Sunday, 694 fresh dengue cases were reported from across West Bengal, a health department official said.
Kolkata, North 24-Parganas and the Siliguri municipal area are among the places from where a large number of dengue cases have been reported.
An official of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) had earlier said an objective of the civic body was to make people aware that certain actions, such as not draining out stagnant water at least once a week, can lead to mosquito breeding.
But many Kolkatans have said the KMC was not doing enough.
KMC workers are supposed to visit all places once in seven days to prevent development of mosquito-breeding sites.
Many residents alleged that such visits are infrequent.
In many places, vector-control teams are visiting a place once a fortnight, or even once a month.
An entomologist said such long intervals defeat the purpose of door-to-door visits because an egg of the Aedes aegypti mosquito takes seven days to turn into an adult mosquito.
Some people have also alleged that larvicides are not sprayed in clogged drains.
A resident of Ekdalia said KMC workers came and asked them to sign on a book to attest that vector-control work had been carried out in their neighbourhood.
“There is no way to ascertain whether that is true because such work is not done in our presence,” said a resident.
