With short spells of rain expected in the coming days, residents of various parts of Chennai are already worried about mosquitoes. The intermittent rains in the last three days have already left small puddles in and around houses and on the roadsides.
There are small puddles across the city. Residents of areas such as T.Nagar, Chetpet, Choolaimedu, Tiruvottiyur, New Washermenpet and Kilpauk are already complaining of mosquito menace.
Sethuraman, a resident of Tiruvottiyur, said their area usually has mosquito swarms and the recent rains have only made the situation worse.
“If the small pools of water are not removed soon, they will definitely turn into breeding sources,” a resident of New Washermenpet added.
S. Elango, president of Indian Public Health Association-Tamil Nadu, explained that continuous and heavy rains would destroy eggs and larva. “But we are getting sporadic rainfall. This will lead to small water collections that will stagnate for 10 days and is more than enough for mosquito breeding,” he said.
He said the local body should take up minor works such as filling pits with soil. “People need to check backyards of houses and remove unused materials such as plastic bottles, tea cups and coconut shells,” he mentioned.
Officials of Chennai Corporation said they have launched mosquito-control measures as the short spell of rains and resultant water stagnation could cause the breeding of dengue-causing Aedes mosquitoes.
Unused materials such as tyres are being removed from roadsides. The local body has also started intensive fogging measures, the official added.
