Mosquito repellents are being sold like hot cakes at a few pockets in the city.
Residents literally swarm grocery shops at Alwarthoppu and Bheema Nagar to buy mosquito repellents. Even if a few grocers charge more than the maximum retail price, no one seems to ask question as they are badly in need of any form of repellents.
There is an unprecedented increase in sale of mosquito repellents in the area. Traders say that there is a mad rush for buying mosquito repellents in the evenings.
“I have never sold such a huge volume of mosquito repellents in my life. I sell mosquito repellents to the tune of Rs.5,000 a day as against Rs.500 in normal days. It has certainly increased my earning. But, I am not happy as my customers are distressed due to untold sufferings due to mosquito bites,” says D. Jayaraj, a grocery trader.
Residents complain that they spend sleepless nights due to unprecedented rise in mosquito population in the residential colonies situated along the Uyyakondan canal from Pudu Mariamman Temple to Alwarthoppu.
Though they experience the mosquito menace regularly, it has reached the unbearable and uncontrollable level since the Public Department Works created a barrier to stop the flow in the Uyyakondan near Palakarai to take up rehabilitation work in its lower stream in the city limit causing water stagnation in the upper stream.
It has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Moreover, the entire stagnated water stretch is fully covered by hyacinth.
“Many of my friends, with their family members, go to the house of their relatives in Palakarai for sleep in the night daily.
Unable to bear the mosquito bites, several families have vacated from Alwarthoppu in the recent past. A volley of petitions submitted to the Corporation and PWD officials have evoked no response,” says S. Kamal, a resident of Alwarthoppu.
K. Sathish, a resident of Pudu Mariamman Temple Street, said each family spend at least Rs.50 a day to buy repellents.
The residents, who were badly affected by mosquito bites, were forced to spend huge sum for getting treatment. If no action was taken immediately, the residents had no other option but to stage protest.
