Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) will purchase five vehicle-mounted fogging machines to add teeth to its fight against mosquitoes.

The decision to purchase the machines was taken during the civic body's standing committee meeting on Monday. PMC commissioner Abhishek Singh told The Telegraph that these five machines would be in addition to 10 similar fogging machines already in use in Patna.

The civic body had earlier bought 75 handheld fogging machines but they are non-functional for a long time. But the decision to buy more of the vehicle-mounted fogging machines is significant, sources said, as the civic body is perennially accused of falling short on its fogging measures as a result of which mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria are reported every year.

Since the 10 vehicle-mounted fogging machines were bought around five months ago, workers associated with the civic body use three each in the New Capital and Patna City circles and the remaining four in the Bankipore and Kankerbagh circles.

"The decision to purchase five more vehicle-mounted fogging machines was approved in the standing committee meeting on Monday. Now this proposal will be put up in the PMC's board meeting," said commissioner Singh. "However, in principle, it has already been decided that the five new fogging machines will be purchased. Apart from these, six dumper placer (big containers for garbage) and 96 dustbins (of 3 cubic metre) will also be purchased. All these decisions were taken today (Monday)."

Residents are hopeful that the five new machines will make their lives better. Some also believe the mosquito menace can only to countered if the people are alert.

"Mosquitoes have made our lives so miserable that even the mosquito repellents are ineffective," said Kidwaipuri resident Malti Sinha. "The officials of the various (PMC) circles have been claiming there were very few fogging machines so I hope the new consignment will make things better."

Javed Ansari of Patna City, however, said: "The corporation alone cannot ensure cleanliness of the whole city. Residents also need to stop littering the streets with garbage. The combined effort of the PMC and people can make our city clean."

In another decision on Monday, the civic body has decided to spend Rs 5 crore it recently received from the state government to secure first position in the Mukhyamantri Adarsh Nikay Protsahan Yojana. The funds will be used for constructing a new building of the civic body.

Decisions were also taken on promotion of revenue officers, section officers and others at the standing committee meeting.