KHULNA, Nov 26, 2024 (BSS) - Leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) today demanded launching a massive crash program to control the prevalence of dengue.

They said the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) should launch a massive program soon as the lives of city dwellers have become miserable due to the increase of mosquito infestation in the city.

They also demanded to revise the construction design of 22 intersection and island works in the name of modernization during the past Awami League government regime, which created civic suffering, and to free Khulna district and the divisional Women Sports Complex from the cohorts' of fascist AL.

Leaders of the Khulna City Unit BNP Convening Committee, including its member secretary, Shafiqul Alam Tuhin, made the demand in a press conference held at the party office.

The BNP leaders said that the city became a breeding point for mosquitoes as the immediate past KCC Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque and some corrupt employees of KCC did not take measures to clean most of the canals and drains in the KCC area.

As a result, the numbers of deaths and dengue infection cases are increasing at an alarming rate this year, they said.

The dengue claimed 13 lives and infected as many as 1,100 people in Khulna this year, according to the information of the Department of Health.

Former parliament member and BNP City unit joint convener Sayeda Rehena Isa, joint conveners Kazi Mahmud Ali and Mahbub Hasan Pearu, among others, were present at the conference.