Students of Salt Lake School picked up  brooms at a cleanliness drive on campus recently. It was a part of a dengue awareness campaign by the school and students left no corner uncleaned. 

Class XI and XII pupils had gathered on their school ground wearing gloves and armed with broomsticks and buckets of bleaching powder. They began by cleaning the ground and the corners of the school building and also had plans to clean its surroundings later on. 

“We are happy that our school has taken the initiative. If proper measures are taken the spread of dengue can be arrested,” said Sourajit Bhattacharyya, Ankan Bhattacharrya, Anurag Saha and Suchintan Das of Class XI. 

Sourajit added that he had written a letter to his councillor about the appalling conditions in monsoon. “The roads are getting damaged and the potholes are gathering water. Mosquitoes can breed there,” he said. 

Basudha Podder of Class XI was excited to be part of the drive too. “At home, we are using mosquito repellent creams and liquidators. But it’s important to keep our surroundings clean.”

“A lot is being written after the death of two students in Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan but still I don’t see fogging machines or other measures being taken by the authorities. So at least we should do our bit to keep the surroundings clean,” said Class XI student Debopriya Paul. 

Teachers supervised the drive. “We started cleaning the campus since we heard about the dengue epidemic. We have informed students about the do’s and don’ts too (see box)”, said English teacher Payel Das. 

“We have started drive with the senior batches but later students up till Class V will join,” said principal Sugata D’Souza. “The school is a starting point; we want them to contribute in keeping their locality clean too.”

DENGUE DOS AND DON'TS

DO

• Shut windows after dark or fix mosquito screens on them
• Sleep under a mosquito net 
• Use mosquito repellent creams on exposed parts of body
• Drain out water containers once a week to prevent mosquito breeding

DON’T

• Litter, especially plastic, tin or glass containers that can hold rainwater 
• Ignore any fever, especially one accompanied by skin rash. See a doctor immediately.