Chennai Corporation has intensified efforts to control the growing mosquito problem.
What’s it about? Chennai is facing a growing mosquito problem, and the Corporation is intensifying efforts to tackle it. Last year, ministers handed out mosquito nets to residents living near waterways. Now, there’s an alarming number of mosquitos in areas with no water bodies nearby.
- The Corporation is tackling it with 3,200 malaria staff, 229 hand-operated fog machines, and 412 hand-operated insecticide sprayers. They’ve begun introducing repellent balls and bottles with oils to kill larvae in water.
- Officials are handicapped due to a lack of larval density data. It would help in planning which areas to tackle accordingly. They’re first looking at areas near waterways.
Who said what? Neonatologist Deepa Hariharan said there had been many dengue cases happening throughout the year instead of it previously being a seasonal illness. Saranya Narayan of the Neuberg Ehrlich Laboratory noted a small increase in malaria cases and that the coming weeks would provide a clearer picture.