The 10-day drive will last until Nov 13. It will remain suspended on Nov 6. The drives will continue from 9am to 12pm during these days.

Mayor Atiqul has urged everyone to join hands to “prevent dengue with concerted efforts”.

In a video message on Saturday, he said the capital was seeing a sudden spike in dengue cases due to climate change. “Although the number of patients is low in the DNCC area, we’re taking it very seriously,” he said.

The DNCC is using a larvicide which remains effective for up to three months. During the drive, houses and buildings will be fined if Aedes larvae are found.

Meanwhile, the DNCC is providing free dengue tests at 40 health centres.

“We’ll be able to keep our city dengue-free if we work together,” the mayor said.

‘Doing better in tackling dengue’

LGRD Minister Md Tajul Islam has said that Bangladesh is in a better position now in preventing the dengue menace.

After the seventh inter-ministerial meeting on tackling dengue, he said the government was ready to face any challenge that may crop up in the future.

“No-one specifically spoke about pesticide shortage. Moreover, the number of dengue patients is not increasing,” he said.

The minister said the mosquito was under control, better than any point in the past.

“We’ll start dengue vector management throughout the year,” he said, reminding everyone that it will take concerted efforts to successfully address the issue.

Also read: Strengthen anti-mosquito drive: Quader