Over 6,000 houses found to be mosquito hubs

Corporation drive covers 14.98 lakh houses across city

Following reports of dengue in several areas, the Chennai Corporation has checked 14.98 lakh houses across the city to identify mosquito breeding sources and found that 6,134 houses were actually Aedes mosquito breeding sources.

Chennai Corporation Deputy Commissioner (Health) P. Madhusudhan Reddy said the workers had sanitised all the houses that had mosquito breeding sources. “Corporation workers are also creating awareness among residents on how a breeding source at home can affect neighbours within a 500-metre radius,” said Mr. Reddy.

Low risk

He added that the House Index for mosquito density in the city was 0.41, which is classified as low risk for dengue. “If the House Index for mosquito density is more than 10, the city will be classified as high risk for dengue,” said an official.

Chennai Corporation has sent more than 3,000 workers to all the zones and seized 32.62 lakh containers on the premises of houses and found that 7532 of them had Aedes mosquito larvae.

Former Chennai Corporation Council floor leader V.Sukumar Babu said the civic body should clean the water ways such as Cooum River and minor canals to reduce the risk of vector borne diseases.

S. Manjula, a relative of the two children who died due to dengue in Madhavaram said the civic agencies have failed to clear the canal in the area, causing an increase in mosquito density. “We have requested the Corporation to clear the canal,” said Ms. Manjula.