While the dengue situation has escalated significantly across the country, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives simply dispenses its duties by holding meetings and issuing directives . They lack both the will and the ability to monitor whether those directives are being followed.
On 19 July, the Minister of Local Government, Tajul Islam, presided over an inter-ministerial meeting on dengue prevention. During this meeting, it was decided that if premises were found to harbour dengue-carrying Aedes mosquito larvae, the building owner would receive a warning the first time and be fined upon the second instance.
With the toll of over 850 people succumbing to dengue, questions arise regarding the logic behind such a decision. If such a decision had been made earlier, the number of deaths and dengue cases could have been significantly reduced.
The organisations under the LGRD ministry have been spraying insecticides to control mosquitoes, but this approach proves to be ineffective. Spraying the insecticide into the air prompts mosquitoes to relocate to another area momentarily, only to return to the original location.
Last January, Atiqul Islam, the mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation, visited Miami in the United States, where larviciding is also employed to eradicate mosquito breeding grounds. The Calcutta City Corporation achieved success in dengue prevention back in 2010, yet in 2023, we are still grappling with the issue.
Ensuring public health is one of the responsibilities of the local government division; however, they are falling short in fulfilling this duty. Moreover, their allocation for this sector is insufficient. According to the local government division, Tk 1.89 billion has been allocated to 12 city corporations in the last four financial years.
For the current fiscal 2023-24, an allocation of Tk 400 million has been made. Khalid Hossain, the general secretary of the Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB), informed Prothom Alo that mosquito extermination is funded by the municipality itself, emphasising that the allocation provided by the LGRD ministry is inadequate.
The guidelines prepared by the local government division in 2021 for preventing dengue remained in documents only. During a visit by a Prothom Alo correspondent to the local government division, it was observed that most officials were engrossed in their routine work and organising events to celebrate Local Government Day.
The guidelines from the local government division emphasised the formation of dengue prevention committees at the national, city corporation, municipality, union, and ward levels. However, in reality, many areas did not have these committees in place. Even where committees were formed, meetings were infrequent, and when conducted, their focus was often on projecting a positive image to the higher authorities.
It is crucial for officials in the local government division to comprehend that mere meetings and directives will not effectively combat mosquitoes or lead to a reduction in dengue outbreaks. To combat the dengue outbreak, it's imperative to eradicate Aedes mosquito breeding grounds, similar to the strategies employed in Kolkata and Miami, right here in Bangladesh. This requires concerted efforts involving everybody.