Agartala: The Agartala Municipal Corporation has decided to combat mosquito-borne diseases with mosquitofish ( Gambusia affinis) or gappi fish.

Mayor Prafullajit Sinha said, "We have been releasing these fish, which feed on mosquito larva, in municipal sewers and urban waterbodies since last year. We shall go for intensive implementation this year. Biological control is far better than anti-larva sprays."

The initiative has been taken under the National Health Mission. NHM director Sailesh Kumar Yadav took the initiative to bring Gambusia fingerlings from Delhi and other states. The fish are effective in beating mosquito breeding, especially in stagnant waters and sewers, as they feed on mosquito larva.

Gambusia fish were introduced in urban ecosystem in many western countries as part of bio-control of diseases caused by mosquitoes and flies. "Several countries, including Australia and the US, freely distribute these fish to control vector-borne diseases," a health officer of the corporation said.

Several parts of Tripura are endemic to malaria, dengue and other vector-borne diseases.

More than 5,000 malaria cases were identified in different hospitals of the state last year along with 80 identified cases of dengue and 44 cases of chikungunya.

Ninety-eight patients had Japanese encephalitis in 2017.