The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) has directed the city Corporation to utilise its vector control workers to control the spread of the Giant African Snail that has infested large parts of the capital.
Acting on the basis of a petition filed by Kowdiar Harikumar, Commission Chairman J.B. Koshy asked on the local body to launch preventive measures in the wake of the warning issued by the Health Department about the potential of the snail to cause meningitis if consumed by humans. It said the Entomology division of the Health Department had erred in failing to furnish a report about the potential health hazard posed by the mollusc.
Mr. Koshy urged the Corporation to implement the recommendation of the Kerala Forest Research Institute to use a mixture of tobacco and copper sulphate or salt to eradicate the snail menace reported from the Akkulam, Kadakampally, Karikkakom, Manacaud, Valiathura, and Kamaleswaram wards.
