Make puja pandals mosquito-free: KMC tells organisers during dengue drive
Times of India | 27 August 2025
Kolkata: In the wake of a rise in dengue cases, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) health department on Tuesday started a dengue drive at the puja pandals. With less than a month left for the state's biggest festival, the civic team led by deputy mayor Atin Ghosh visited two puja pandals and educated the organisers about the dos and don'ts of dengue prevention. At Tallah Prattay puja pandal, which witnesses a surge of crowd every year, the KMC health department senior officials asked the organisers to wrap up the cut ends of the vertically placed bamboo structures with cloth to prevent water accumulation.
On Monday, the KMC health department sent a dengue prevention advisory to organisers of all puja committees. Besides taking care of the water stagnation on bamboo structures, the puja committees were asked to remove rainwater immediately from any potholes, pits, or low-lying areas around the pandal site. The bamboo structures erected for display for advertisement should also be made free of stagnant water, said chief VCO Debasish Biswas.
The deputy mayor, who oversees the KMC health department, on Tuesday said guidelines were being sent to the puja committees asking them to take effective measures to ensure that no stagnant water is allowed in the pandal structures that have come up, especially in the dengue-prone areas. "Though there is no need to panic, dengue cases may go up in the coming weeks if we don't take preventive measures. We will ask the puja committees to be vigilant and prevent rainwater stagnation at pandal structures. We will request them to take photos of an anti-dengue drive at the pandals and send them to us. If they fail to do the job, we will send our teams to these pandals," said Ghosh. | Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in KolkataAccording to the KMC health department adviser Tapan Kumar Mukherjee, unless prevention of dengue is turned into a citizens' movement, the civic body's efforts won't yield desired results. "Prevention of dengue is a public health issue. Our medical team and health workers are engaged in a battle against the dreaded disease. But we need to make it a citizens' movement to win the battle against the winged menace. Simple steps to be observed at households will make a big difference. Under no circumstances should we allow fresh rainwater to stagnate," said Mukherjee.