The Hindu
Pics - Dayanand Kukkaje

Mangalore, Jun 19: The Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) began its anti-malaria drive in the city on Monday June 18. As part of the first phase of the drive, the anti-malaria workforce headed by Health Officer Manjaiah Shetty cleared the piles of old tyres in the Bunder area where heavy breeding of mosquitoes has been reported.

Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada District M. Maheshwara Rao, who is also administrator of the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC), told The Hindu that the number of malaria cases in Mangalore increases considerably during the monsoons due to the availability of fresh water in which mosquitoes could breed. He said that tyres and empty coconut shells act as incubators for mosquitoes when rainwater collects in them.

Mr. Rao said that people should be extra careful in the monsoon and not allow items such as waste cans, discarded tyres and coconut shells to be littered in their localities. If they did find such items lying around, they should immediately destroy them. He said that steps should be taken to put guppy fishes in open water bodies, and people should close their overhead tanks and sumps with airtight lids. He has asked the people to spread this information among their neighbours and lodge complaints with the MCC on the numbers Ph: 2220344, 155313 and 4277968 (the malaria cell).

To give more thrust to the anti-malaria drive the corporation would be empowered to employ non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to actively participate in the drive. They would be given specific tasks such as spreading awareness on anti-malaria measures, reporting malaria cases, and taking part in field work along with the corporation authorities, Mr. Rao said. He said that as administrator of the MCC, he was also thinking of making the penalty for those who did not take care to prevent breeding of mosquitoes more stringent. The existing penalty for the first offence was only Rs. 50 and did not make any impact on habitual offenders, he felt. According to Health Inspector Gopalakrishna Delampady, 93 individuals and construction companies have been fined for allowing mosquitoes to breed at their homes or on their premises.

According to statistics available with the malaria cell, the cases of Malaria Falciferum, Vivax and mixed infections had come down by 50 per cent from last year. The statistics indicate that in May 2006, there were 1,081 cases but in May 2007, 598 cases have been reported. The highest number of cases, 116, have been reported in Kankanady, which has been identified as one of the high-risk areas in the city. The other areas include Bejai (104 cases), Kodialbail (95), Car Street (42), and Falnir (93).