CUTTACK: Cuttack is caught in the grip of a severe mosquito menace with the density of vectors in most parts of the city unusually high for this time of the year. The density of mosquitoes has almost matched the maximum recorded 55 during the peak breeding seasons in the post-monsoon months of last winter. Such high density during December, which usually inhibits vector breeding due to unfavourable temperature drops, has not only surprised the experts but has also driven the civic administration into a tizzy over instituting effective measures for mosquito control. With the recent dengue outbreak still fresh in public memory, the denizens demand for immediate steps to control the situation has grown shriller.The surveillance under the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) has revealed that the mosquito density has been hovering around 52-55 per week. There has been a semblance of a drop in the past one week but it still has been around 50, much to the concern of the administration.While claiming to have intensified vector control measures, the Cuttack Municipal Corporation has tried to shift the blame on to the unusual seasonal behaviour as well as ineffectiveness of the larvicide being used.The peak season for mosquito breeding, from August to October, and to a certain extent November. The density comes down with the fall in temperature as winter sets in. This year, however, temperatures continue to be favourable for breeding even in December. Further, the Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis (BTI) eco-friendly bacteria spores-based larvicide used under the guidelines of the Centre, has not proved very effective in killing the larvae, CMC sources said.As a meeting was convened under the chairmanship of Collector Girish SN and Commissioner RN Nanda, the civic administration has now concentrated on desiltation of drains and infusing the larva-feeding Guffy fish. Special teams of five workers each under a supervisor per ward have been formed to clean and desilt the around 1,500-km length of small drains that are the major source of mosquito breeding, officer-in-charge of epidemic control PK Pradhan said. Fogging operations will also commence immediately with the help of five machines supplied by the State Health Department. Interestingly, most of the 25 machines of the CMC have been rendered dysfunctional.“The situation is likely to improve within a week,” Pradhan asserted.
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