The health department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation has written to the commissioner of the city police seeking help for better coordination of local police in carrying out vector control activities in houses that pose threats of dengue in their neighbourhood.
According to deputy mayor Atin Ghosh, generally the task is done with the help of local police and the councillor. The vector control team along with the local police and the councillor break open the lock and carry out the cleaning works inside locked houses. This is followed by a thorough vector control measures, including sprinkling of anti-larval medicines. The civic body then attaches the amount incurred on carrying out the vector control measures to the property tax to be paid by the owners. According to Mr Ghosh, tax assessment department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation collected Rs 39 lakh from locked and abandoned plots that were identified for posing threats of dengue in the neighbourhood. The civic body also issues notice to the owners under sections 455, 456 and 457 of the KMC Act 1980. The KMC is said to have issued notices to 951 people till the month of February.
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Notably, last year, the municipal corporation identified 68 wards across 16 boroughs that had more than 10 cases of dengue. The identified wards include 2 to 4, 6, 14, 26, 27, 31 to 33, 36,48,55,57 to 59, 61,62,65 to 69,77 to 79, 81, 82, 85, 86, 88 to 103 to 110, 112 to 115, 117, 118, 121, 122, 124, 126 , 127 to 129, 131 and 144.
As elaborated by the deputy mayor, last year, while carrying out the vector-control activities, there were some issues faced by the KMC team in terms of coordination with the police. Considering the fact the civic body has written to the commissioner of city police so that an order is directly issued by them which could help the municipal corporation in carrying out the vector control activities in a better way.