Drives after May 10 to find breeding grounds: minister

Local Government and Rural Division Minister Tajul Islam yesterday said authorities will conduct mobile court drives after May 10 if they find favourable breeding conditions for Aedes mosquitoes at houses and offices in Dhaka city.

He was speaking at an inter-ministerial meeting at Wasa Bhaban in the capital.

The minister urged house and office owners to keep premises clean and take steps to destroy Aedes breeding grounds.

He said roofs, toilets, flooded floors, drums and water containers at construction sites must be cleaned by owners.

The government recently decided to form a "dengue monitoring cell" to combat the disease in the city.

Since January 1, at least 295 dengue patients were admitted to different hospitals across the country till Sunday, said Aysha Akhtar, an assistant director of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Sixty-five of the patients were from outside Dhaka.