The Hindu : Mosquito control: Kolar being emulated

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 30, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Mosquito control: Kolar being emulated

By M. Raghuram

MANGALORE DEC. 29. Mangalore has fought many battles against malaria, but biological control of mosquitoes appears to be the last resort against the disease.

The biological control measures now being implemented in the city have been adopted from the Kolar Experiment of 1993, when pesticides sprayed in that town and other parts of the district to control mosquitoes affected sericulture. The silk worms fell prey to pesticides and the silk industry faced a threat. Under the National Programme for Malaria Control, a division of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), introducing guppy fish into water bodies proved to be an efficient way of controlling mosquitoe breeding, the Director of the programme, Ghosh, said.

Prior to 1993, Kolar used to record an annual average of 2,500 to 3,000 malarial cases.

After that year, mosquito breeding was curbed, and the number of cases had come down drastically. As on September 2002, only 120 cases were recorded, according to the Health Department of the Kolar Zilla Panchayat.

To replicate the success of the Kolar experiment in Mangalore, the Malaria Biological Control Committee, headed by the former corporator, Suresh Shetty, has launched a guppy fish movement in addition to the existing anti-malaria drives.

Mr. Shetty and his group supported by the District Entomologist, Mukta, take samples of stagnant water at various construction sites in the city and release guppy fishes into the water bodies from time to time.

The committee has urged the city corporation and the district administration to take strict note of stagnant water on the rooftops of unused and half-completed buildings and order immediate flushing of it. Mr. Shetty told The Hindu that this was the time to control the breeding of mosquitoes as the incidence of malaria was low.

Guppy fish breeds fast in fresh waters and sustains even in contaminated water. Dr. Ghosh, who recently toured Mangalore, said even the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) had introduced guppy fish into the Ulsoor Lake for controlling mosquito breeding. Following the high level of success, the BMP now planned to open guppy fish breeding centres on a scientific basis.

The committee, alarmed at the mosquito's immunity to various chemicals, has been propagating biological control for the past three years. However, due to lack of awareness on the breeding of guppy fish, the programme has not been successful.

Mr. Shetty said the city alone needed 1.5 lakh guppy fish and an equal number of gambosia fish. Gambosia fish devoured guppy fish, and therefore, they should be introduced in water bodies separately. Efforts were also on to educate teachers, residents, and the students to create favourable conditions for breeding guppy fish. Many schools had been given tanks to breed them. It was cost effective.

According to the Deputy Commissioner, A.K. Monnappa, the district administration is ready to procure guppy fish from the main breeding centres in the State if the supply is found to be inadequate in Mangalore.

The corporation, along with eight NGOs and medical colleges, has introduced extensive malaria control measures covering all the 54 areas in old Mangalore.

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Mosquito control: Kolar being emulated