Despite the lavish spread, Rajesh could not savour the wedding dinner at Mehdipatnam. For Sahitya Reddy, there was hardly any enjoyment in an evening stroll along the Tank Bund. And the thrill of catching up with his favourite Hollywood blockbuster on television at his home at Chandanagar was lost for Eshwar Chand.
Reason: incessant pestering of mosquitoes.
Notwithstanding the claims of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on stepping up operations to check mosquito menace, denizens in different parts of the city continue to be bugged by the mosquito swarms. The reports on dengue fevers and casualties resulting from it only adds to the worries.
A media consultant, Rajesh says he was attending a wedding reception the other day and the guests there were irritated beyond patience by the mosquitoes.
“We could not even enjoy our dinner, it was just irritating,” he rues.
Sahitya lament at the lack of adequate measures from the civic body to check the mosquito menace despite worrying reports on dengue cases being on the rise. “I was on the Tank Bund in the evening but had to give up on the stroll because of mosquitoes that were buzzing there. Every day we read about dengue cases but the GHMC does not seem to be doing much,” she says.
The civic body top brass which held a review meeting few days back observed cases of dengue even after extensive anti-larval operations and decided to carry out a special drive in the city. GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar at the review said the 2,000 staff members of the entomology wing were taking up larval operations, fogging and door-to-door operations.
According to the GHMC officials, the dengue instances were high during July to August as compared to last year during the same period but they have been on decline since last month. More than 115 portable fogging machines, seven vehicle mounted fogging machines and 600 shoulder held sprays were deployed to check the menace, they said.
“Our drives aim at addressing general mosquito menace and also control the disease transmitting ones. It is advisable to strike at the breeding source and at larval stage,” said an official.
The entomology staff was given special drive plans to ensure that each one covers at least 20 houses and make a repeat visit again after a week.
Dengue spreading mosquitoes usually were found to breed in artificial, domestic and peri-domestic conditions. “Residents should check their immediate vicinities and do away with piled up unused material such as old tyres, plastic material, tins, coconut shells and such material from compounds and terraces,” advised an official adding, “even space that could allow stagnation of five ml to 10 ml water is enough to turn into mosquito breeding ground”.
