Sting operation

Cuttack, July 21: The rains have strengthened the sting of mosquitoes in Cuttack.

While the sting is intensifying, Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) is not ready to tackle the problem as yet, as most of its fogging machines and sprayers are reportedly non-functional.

The city’s storm-water drains in monsoon turn into breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Mayor Nibedita Pradhan, however, would like to blame the mosquito menace on the disappearance of water bodies due to a construction spree.

“The showers in the past two weeks and the lack of water bodies to allow the water to flow out have caused flooding in several areas. With it, the mosquito problem has started again,” the mayor reasoned.

Though 60 fogging machines are available with the CMC, hardly 50 per cent of them are operational. Similarly, more than 60 per cent of the 150-odd spraying pumps are lying defunct.

The CMC health officer conceded that repair work on the fogging machines and sprayers were underway. “Of the 60 fogging machines available, 30 are already functional. The rest are expected to be ready by the end of next month,” said Niranjan Das, the health officer.

He, however, said the mosquito problem is presently being addressed through periodic spraying of “bitex larvicide” oil in main storm-water channels, branch storm water channels and surface drains.

There are 1600km of surface water drain in the city in addition to the 17km MSW channel and 29km of BSW channel. “Nearly 150 litres of ‘bitex larvicide’ oil is used everyday for spraying at adult mosquitoes. A work force of 200 persons is engaged in the operation. To ensure once-in-a-week spraying in an area, 40 supervisors monitor the work around the city,” the health officer claimed.

Official sources said the civic body had earmarked Rs 2.5 crore in the current fiscal for mosquito control even after failing to spend less than Rs 1 crore for the task last year. In the 2007 budget estimate the CMC had allotted Rs 1.5 crore for fighting the pest.