Congress candidate Hemanta Behera campaigns at Tulasipur in ward No. 16 of Cuttack on Wednesday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Jan. 22: Congress and other parties are making the civic body’s failure to manage mosquito menace a major issue in their campaign for the municipal corporation polls here.

Mosquito menace has reached serious proportions in the city. The BJD municipal council had assured the city residents of steps to permanently resolve the mosquito problem. But, the problem persists mainly because of inadequate mosquito control measures, be it anti-mosquito fogging or spraying of mosquito-larvaecide oil in drains or garbage clearance.

The Congress, in its election manifesto, vowed to rid the city of the mosquito menace while alleging that the BJD-ruled municipal council failed on all fronts, especially mosquito control, in the past five years.

Cuttack City Congress Committee president Md Moquim said: “We will eliminate mosquitoes from the city. We will also give two mosquito nets to each family.”

In 2009 municipal polls, the Congress had won from eight wards.

Mosquitoes are also high on Pyari Mohan Mohapatra-led Odisha Jan Morcha (OJM)’s poll agenda. “Mosquito eradication will be one of the two thrust areas to highlight corruption in the functioning of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation,” Morcha vice-president Rajendra Prasad Singh told The Telegraph. The OJM will contest from 22 of the 59 wards.

“Lack of co-ordination in implementation of National Filaria Control Programme, the state government’s lack of concern over requirement of mosquito larvaecide oil and pilferage and adulteration of the oil have also contributed towards making mosquito control measures a fiasco,” said Singh.

“Our other thrust areas for highlighting corruption will be absence of rules and by-laws of the Orissa Municipal Corporation Act, 2003. There is rampant corruption in collection of taxes, especially holding tax. Without the rules and by-laws, the civic body lacks teeth,” he added.

Holding tax was categorised as property tax in the Orissa Municipal Corporation Act, 2003. But in the absence of rules and by-laws regulating the property tax, holding tax is being collected following the Orissa Municipal Act, 1950.

On the other hand, the Congress, which is contesting from all the 59 wards, has promised to waive 50 per cent of holding tax. The municipal corporation’s holding tax collection has been around fifty per cent of the annual target of Rs 5.5 to 6 crore.

The Left parties – CPI(M) and CPI — have also focused on mosquito control to highlight corruption in functioning of the civic body while campaigning for the party candidates in seven wards.

“We have fielded candidates in wards or areas where party activists have been involved in fighting for basic civic amenities round the year. Now, we intend to fight for them by entering the municipal council,” said CPI(M) city unit secretary Rabi Mallick.

The CPI(M) and CPI have fielded candidates from three and four wards respectively. “Our campaigns will concentrate on mosquito menace, sanitation, lack of drinking water and absence of drains,” said CPI city unit secretary Binod Behera.