Experts at a seminar have stressed the need for active participation of community in controlling Aedes mosquitoes saying, the perilous vector that responsible for dengue fever could never be controlled by the government alone.

Aedes mosquitoes grow mainly in and around habitats and rooftops so Aedes control programmes could never succeed without community participation, they said while addressing the seminar at Alliance Francaise de Dacca on Monday.

Andre Raynouard, Conseiller Culturel of French Embassy in Bangladesh attended the seminar on 'Mosquito Control and Prevention of Dengue Fever' as the chief guest while Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed, president of Bishwa Shahitya Kendro and Prof AM Shafiqul Alam addressed the function.

Three papers-one by Dr Taimur AK Mahmud, one jointly by Touhid Uddin Ahmed and Dr Mohammed Ashraf Uddin and one by ASM Alamgir-were present at the seminar organised by Franco-Bangladesh Association of Scholars and Trainees (FBAST).

Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed urged all to fight against the Aedes mosquitoes by keeping their houses and surrounding areas free from those things that responsible for Aedes population.

He also urged the teachers to engage the students in the movement of cleaning cities and making mass people aware of dengue. He demanded of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) to include special text regarding dengue in the textbooks.

The experts expressed deep concern as the Aedes mosquitoes and its larvae were found in the places which were free from the dangerous vectors last year.

Mentioning the unplanned growth of cities, the experts said dwellers of urban areas had been suffering from mosquito menace due to unplanned growth of cities, which had created innumerable mosquito-breeding places.

They said the larvae of dengue vector Aedes mosquitoes were found mainly in containers like water jar, buckets, broken earthen pots, tire and tree holes and urged the people to keep their houses clean from those things.