Ara: Mosquitoes and garbage dumps continue to pose a challenge for the Ara Municipal Corporation (AMC).

Though the civic body claims it is clearing garbage even in slums, spraying insecticides and undertaking fogging on a large scale, majority of the complaints pertains to menace of flies and mosquitoes.

Residents of Hari Ji Ka Hata, Professor Colony, Old Police Line, Maula Bagh, Tari Mohalla, Bind Toli, Mahadeva Road, Mahajan Toli No 1, Babu Bazaar, Maharaja Hata, Tilak Nagar, Chandawa and other areas in Bhojpur district are the worst-affected.

The AMC staff found larvae of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in some of the most uncommon places like elevator ducts, lotus ponds, defrost trays in refrigerators, money plants and parking lots. The civic body spotted these during routine inspection but the officials of the AMC are tight-lipped in this regard.

Neha Kumari, a resident of the Station Road area, said: "You might be using repellents or coils to keep mosquitoes away. But, what if you could actually get your entire house painted with a mosquito repellent. The mosquitoes have developed immunity to the present repellents."

The civic body mayor, Priyam Devi, and municipal commissioner Pramod Kumar claimed to be alert towards monsoon maladies and said the civic body has taken up the anti-mosquito drive in an organised manner. They said that drains are being de-silted and flushed with saline and bleaching powder adding that anti-mosquito chemical is being sprayed in the town through fogging machines at regular intervals.

Hare Ram Singh of Sheoganj and Pooja Kumari of New Police Lines blamed said the ground realities belied the tall claims of the AMC.

She added that the mosquito menace has not been curbed so far and residents of Ara are living in constant fear of dengue and other diseases.

Dr TP Singh said people could fall sick owing to different water-borne diseases and advised the people to refrain from eating at roadside eateries and used boiled water.