An army of up to 500 citizens from housing societies and corporate offices is now ready to take on the menace of mosquito breeding and curb it.
In January, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had planned to rope in citizen volunteers to tackle dengue. An army of up to 500 citizens from housing societies and corporate offices is now ready to take on the menace of mosquito breeding and curb it.
Dharmendra Vyas, a resident of N Ward (Ghatkopar), is one such citizen. Vyas has the ways and means to detect and tackle mosquito larvae breeding on his fingertips. A few weeks ago, the local pest control officers in N Ward conducted a training programme for over 30 people in Ghatkopar East. "We were trained to observe how the mosquito that spreads dengue appears, when does it bite, and where does it lay eggs. We were asked to look for mosquito larvae in clean stagnant water and asked to dispose it regularly to prevent hatching of eggs. Also, dry eggs of dengue-causing female aedes aegypti mosquitoes last for a year and may hatch when they get access to water," said Vyas.
Since then, Vyas and his friends, who were trained by the BMC, have conducted presentations at 35 housing societies and corporate offices in N ward to spread awareness.
The BMC had sent out appeal letters for imparting training to 4,674 housing societies and corporate offices in January. "Of the 4,674 appeals, 702 parties responded. We have appointed up to 500 citizen mosquito breeding detectors who will carry BMC's message to their localities and neighbourhoods," said Rajan Naringrekar, BMC's insecticide officer.
On April 18, the office area of Oracle Finance Services at Goregaon East was jostling with eager employees. A staff of 52 housekeeping people, three supervisors and administration officials was roped in. "In the hour-long session, we were trained on how to prevent dengue. The larvae hatches and transforms into a mosquito in seven days, so we were asked to regularly empty stagnant water from petri dishes, AC ducts and other office spaces," said LA Pal, an administration official from Oracle.
How you can be a mosquito breeding detector
In order to receive training, write to the BMC insecticide officer at io_phd@rediffmail.com
You can also contact the pest control officer of the local ward for arranging a training programme
In the training, you will be taught...
Where to look for mosquitoes
How mosquito larvae can be identified
Preventive measures to avoid mosquito bites
What you need to know about dengue
Dengue is caused by the female aedes aegypti mosquito.
The mosquito produces on an average 100 to 200 eggs per batch. The females can produce up to five batches of eggs during a lifetime.
Eggs are laid on damp surfaces in areas likely to temporarily flood, such as tree holes and man-made containers like barrels, drums, jars, pots, buckets, flower vases, plant saucers, tanks, discarded bottles, tins, tyres and water coolers.
8,400 people were diagnosed with dengue in Maharashtra last year by the state health department, of which 126 died
800 confirmed cases reported in Mumbai in 2014 by the BMC, of which more than 20 died
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