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| File picture of a fogging operation in Cuttack |
Cuttack, Oct. 17: The usual pre-winter anti-mosquito fogging operation is yet to be undertaken in the city as the civic body is busy clearing the garbage generated during Dussehra and the debris caused by cyclone Phailin.
The Cuttack Municipal Corporation usually launches its fogging drive in the last week of September every year.
“Inclement weather has delayed the anti-mosquito operation this year. We will launch the drive shortly after regular collection and disposal of garbage across the city is streamlined,” corporation health officer P.K. Pradhan told The Telegraph.
Regular collection and disposal of garbage was badly hit as most of the corporation’s vehicles were engaged in clearing debris generated by Phailin.
However, residents here are complaining about inadequate mosquito control measure in the city. “We would like to see at least some fogging in our area,” said Dilip Kumar Mohapatra, 37, a resident of Bihari Bag near Chandni Chowk. He alleged that no fogging operation has taken place in their area this year.
A corporation official said anti-mosquito fogging operation was undertaken in the city during the dengue outbreak in July this year. The fogging drive was suspended following a decline in dengue cases after September 5. Though the corporation had 53 handheld or portable fogging machines, only about 50 per cent of those are in working condition. So, fogging following the dengue outbreak was mostly limited to less than 10 wards in the city.
However, municipal commissioner Nihar Ranjan Mohapatra said: “With the purchase of 30 hand-operated automatic fogging machines, we now have adequate number of machines for each of the 54 wards.”
“Simultaneous daily fogging programmes during evening hours in all the 54 wards have been planned following purchase of the 30 hand-operated automatic fogging machines. The operation will be intensified with the arrival of two vehicle-mounted fogging machines, a purchase order for which has already been placed,” Mohapatra said.
