The High Court on Sunday asked Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Civil Aviation Authority Bangladesh (CAAB) to inform it of steps taken to control mosquitoes at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

DNCC and CAAB have been asked to submit a report within February 15 in this regard. The court also asked CAAB and Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to submit another report after conducting a survey on the density of mosquitoes and larvae at the airport area.

A bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Razik Al Jalil passed the order during a hearing after viewing a report on the mosquito control campaign and the latest mosquito survey report at the airport area.

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Advocate Tanvir Ahmed appeared for the petitioners during the hearing while advocate Saifur Rashed represented CAAB and Deputy Attorney General Tushar Kanti Roy appeared for the state.

“The bench was irked seeing the latest report and said people are dying suffering from Dengue fever but mosquitoes are not being controlled at the airport even after spending the allotted budget,” said Advocate Tanvir Ahmed.

On February 20, this year, the court directed CAAB to take immediate steps to control mosquitoes at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after advocate Tanvir submitted a supplementary petition attaching a report published in this regard on a national daily newspaper. 

The Central Disease Control Branch of the Health Department has a program to measure the density of mosquitoes and mosquito larvae under which a survey is supposed to be conducted every two months.

On April 3, this year, the High Court ordered to determine the density of mosquitoes and larvae inside and outside the airport as the Health Department has a programme under which such a survey was supposed to be conducted after every two months.  But it was not conducted after June 2019.

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On February 26, 2019, the lawyer sent a legal notice to the authority after spotting some local and foreign passengers being menaced by mosquitos during his visit to the airport at night.

He asked the authority to take steps in this regard within three days of receiving the notice as it will degrade the country's reputation.

On March 3, that year he filed a writ petition to the High Court in this regard after receiving no reply to the notice.

On March 12, 2019, the High Court issued a rule questioning the negligence of the authority in killing mosquitoes at the Shahjalal International Airport.

Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism, CAAB Chairman, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor and commissioner of the ward adjacent to the airport were made respondents to the rule.