Cuttack: The civic body will release mosquito larvae-eating fish, guppy, into stagnant city drains to control winged menace and subsequently curb the spread of dengue.

City health officer Umesh Panigrahi said: "The mosquito larvae-eating fish will be used as part of a multi-pronged action plan to contain the spread of dengue in Cuttack city."

"The action plan - initiated in ward No. 49 on Friday - was chalked out after a review meeting of the dengue situation by the Cuttack collector that revealed showed that the vector-borne disease had spread to eleven of the 59 wards," Panigrahi said.

Of the 24 cases reported in the city so far, 14 were from ward No. 49 and one each was from ten wards.

The action plan includes intensive bush cutting, clearance of blockages in drains, spraying of anti-larvicide oil and mosquito repellents and releasing mosquito larvae-eating fish in stagnant drains where repair work is going on. The measures will continue for four days in ward No 49 of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation.

"We will release such mosquito larvae-eating fish in surface drains wherever there is stagnation of water due to ongoing repair works and wherever the flow of water is more than three inches deep. It will be done in all the wards from where dengue cases have been reported," he said.

Dengue outbreak has been attributed to poor hygiene and sanitation and accumulation of rainwater where dengue virus carrying aedes egypti mosquitoes are bred.

The civic body has already come up with guppy fish hatcheries for releasing them in various possible mosquito-breeding sites. Guppy fish help in controlling the breeding of mosquitoes as they eat mosquito larvae as fast as they hatch from the eggs laid by mosquitoes.

"Also known as the mosquito fish, an adult guppy fish can consume several hundred larvae in an hour. Besides, guppy can reproduce rapidly and are unlike other fish in that they do not lay eggs but bear live young. In fact, once the fish are released, the drains will become natural hatcheries," Panigrahi said.

Door-to-door checks are also on in areas from where dengue cases have been reported, said chairman of the civic body's standing committee for health Ranjan Kumar Biswal.