Corporation goes all out to prevent mosquito menace

The Corporation of Chennai has been taking various measures to prevent mosquito breeding to stop the outbreak of dengue fever in the city.

Aedes aegypti

Officials have been asking people to clean the water containers periodically to clear them of mosquito larvae and keep the environment clean. Details about those affected with dengue fever is being collected and preventive measures are being initiated in the residential areas. Sanitary workers and road workers of Chennai Corporation have removed 244 tonnes of waste materials in the last three months from residential localities. CDs to spread awareness about mosquito breeding have been distributed to government and private schools in the city.

Over three lakh students were given ‘Medical Emissary’ cards and trained to conduct awareness programme across the 15 zones of Chennai Corporation. So far, seven lakh handbills have been distributed and more than 50,000 stickers have been pasted around the city.

President of North Chennai District Exnora, K. Ramadoss, said a herbal mosquito repellent was successfully invented by Loyola College in 2002, using leaves of Ashoka and Velikathan plant. The biotechnology department of Loyola College had offered assistance to Corporation to supply the repellent then.

“However, there was no response from civic body and the proposal was abruptly dropped by Loyola team headed by Professor A. Vincent, who is now Adviser to the Science & Technology department of Tamil Nadu Government. The Government should encourage such herbal remedies and ban chemical-based products,” Mr. Ramadoss said.