Hardly any MLA can spot fogging machines in the city. But urban development minister Prem Kumar can, that too every fortnight.

A fortunate few have seen fumigation in the city. But Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pal says it is a regular exercise.

Yet, mosquitoes bite. The city portrays a dirty picture.

The minister invited trouble in the Assembly on Thursday when he said: “Fogging is done every fortnight in each area.”

His House colleagues virtually booed him. Cutting across party lines, the MLAs declared that they were yet to see a fogging machine in Patna.

“Have you seen a fogging machine near your official residence?” former speaker Sadanand Singh asked Speaker Uday Narain Choudhary. Singh denounced the minister for taking the issue casually.

A ministerial colleague jokingly quipped that Kumar was against “jeev hatya” (animal killing).

The issue cropped up in the Assembly when the RJD MLA, Durga Prasad Singh, alleged that fogging had stopped in the city for the past six months and there had been a sharp increase in mosquitoes.

The minister claimed that the PMC was combating mosquitoes through regular use of fogging machines.

But the Leader of the Opposition, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, declared that he had not seen a fogging machine operational in Patna for ages. “Not even in the VVIP areas like MLA flats,” he said, insisting that the majority of the fogging machines in the state were defunct.

Siddiqui’s remarks got a strong approval from the MLAs cutting across party lines. But the minister stuck to his stand.

Taking into count the MLAs’ thoughts, the speaker advised Prem Kumar to look into the matter and intensify the use of fogging machines to get rid of mosquitoes in the state capital.

Though the speaker asked the minister to review the situation, the PMC commissioner jumped into the ring to defend Prem Kumar.

Pal said: “”Fogging is a routine affair in corporation areas. After the temperature started rising, we have intensified the drive. Fumigation is done every day in some ward or the other.”

Sheshank Shekhar Sinha, the executive officer of New Capital circle of the PMC, went a step ahead and said: “We carry out fogging every evening. On Wednesday evening, we covered ward number 2 that includes areas like Ashiana Nagar and Ramnagari.”

Sorry Mr Sinha, Ashiana Nagar resident Jai Prakash did not see anybody of the civic body fumigating the area not just yesterday, but for months.

“In our area, fumigation by the PMC is unheard of. They might be doing so on paper, not on the ground,” said Jai Prakash.

Raghvendra Mishra, a resident of Shivpuri, echoed Jai Prakash. “I have seen fumigation by the PMC only twice in the past five years. Whenever we approach them, they tell us fogging machines are old and defunct.”

Munna Kumar, a resident of the Naval Kishore Road area, said: “No mosquito control exercise like fumigation is done at any time of the year.”

Meena Devi, a resident of Postal Park Colony, spends thousands every year on mosquito repellents to shield her children from the sting.

Are you hearing, Mr Prem Kumar, Mr Pal and Mr Sinha?

The reality bites, indeed. Insiders in the civic body revealed that fogging was not done regularly because of high operation costs.

A source told The Telegraph that the machine consumes about 130 litres of diesel and 1kg Melathion — an insecticide with low human toxicity — for functioning three hours.

The fumigation costs about Rs 4,000 per day per ward. As the operation cost of the machines in all the circles climbs up to Rs 5 lakh each month, the fumigation drive is not very extensive throughout the year, said the source.