Corp plans buy 16 fogging machine
Fogging being carried out on a street in the city on Monday to eliminate mosquitoes.The Coimbatore Corporation plans to buy 16 fogging equipment as part of its mosquito control programme for the city. Of these, four will be huge machines that need to be mounted on lorries.Each of the four zones in the city will have one such vehicle mounted fogging machine.Costing Rs.12.50 lakh each, the machines will help in carrying out fogging on broad roads. Tenders have been invited and these will be opened on February 29.As for the small streets, the Corporation already had 12 machines. Each zone has been provided with three machines. The Corporation plans to buy 12 more, says Assistant City Health Officer P. Aruna. The official says fogging is being done every day to eliminate all mosquitoes that carry the viruses that cause dengue and chikungunya and the parasite that causes malaria.(Flavivirus causes dengue and alpha virus causes chikungunya. Aedes aegyti is the mosquito that carries these viruses. Plasmodium falciparum, plasmodium vivax, plasmodium malariae and plasmodium ovale are the parasites that cause malaria.(Anopheles mosquitoes carry these.)
“The city has not had any declared case of malaria in recent months,” claims the health official.There have been only sporadic cases earlier. So is the case with dengue. As for chikungunya, the Corporation and district health authorities have maintained over the last three years that there has been no indigenous case.Whatever cases had been detected were those that contracted the disease during visits to other districts.Conditions in the city, especially unsafe storage or stagnation of fresh/clear water, compel sustained anti-mosquito measures.
Fogging is a continuous process, says Dr. Aruna. Each of the 72 wards in the city is divided into six blocks. Nine persons are deployed in each ward for fogging every day.Additional strength, including multi-purpose health workers, is used during monsoon and if a disease acquires the proportion of an epidemic. The health workers are also involved in creating awareness among the people on how the diseases are caused and how to eliminate breeding space for mosquitoes.Dr. Aruna says the move to purchase more fogging equipment is part of the measures to prevent diseases during monsoon (from June).
