With 20 special teams formed for source reduction of mosquito larvae, the civic body is going all guns blazing in its dengue prevention effort. However, water logging in open sites and plots, caused by the incessant rain over the past few days, is turning out to be a huge headache for the authorities.
Mosquitoes are an ever brooding trouble and during monsoon the problem becomes acute.
The outbreak of dengue has heightened the tension throughout the State. The main challenge is that the dengue-causing mosquito aedes aegypti breeds in fresh water and care should be taken to check water logging at the household level.
However, when water accumulates in open plots and layouts in residential areas, houses located in their vicinity face serious trouble. The residents have no choice but to depend on the authorities to drain water from these open sites.
Residents of these mushrooming localities construct houses well elevated from the ground level to escape from flooding during rain, but because of this the open plots adjacent to these houses get filled up with water.
Water logging, though awash in open sites in residential localities at Kattur, Ariyamangalam, and Tiruverumbur on the Tiruchi-Thanjavur NH , is not restricted to these areas .
The roads leading to SIDCO industrial estate, Rettaimal Street, sites near Tiruverumbur police station and Government Arts College, and Anna arch at Thuvakudimalai, are surrounded by water for the past many days. Even some of the main locations of the city such as Srirangam bus stand and Salai road are suffering from the water woes. Water stagnation is not just an eyesore; it creates serious health risk by providing a vantage point for mosquito breeding. Children who go out to play after their school hours are vulnerable to mosquito bites.
“At the individual level we can take steps to drain waste water from used tyres, coconut shells, and flower pots. But draining stagnant water from open plots is a huge challenge. Officials should take steps on war-footing to drain the water from these sites ,” says J.Vijayalakshmi a resident of Kattur.
