Date:17/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/17/stories/2008021759200300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Measures to control mosquito menace

Staff Reporter

Gambusia fish to be released in stagnant water bodies

— Photo: M. Moorthy.

HELPFUL MOVE: A worker looking at gambusia fish in a pond in Tiruchi.

TIRUCHI: The Tiruchi Corporation would soon release gambusia fish in stagnant water bodies to control proliferation of mosquitoes.

It has procured 1000 fish from the Department of Fisheries last month and released it for rearing in water pools at St. Joseph’s College, said the City Health Officer P. Sivanesan. A hundred high-risk sites have so far been identified to rear the fish species. The fish was stated to survive mainly on mosquito larvae in stagnant water bodies, which breed mosquitoes. Gambusia is also a prolific breeder, which rears over 100 fish in a year. Since the fish could survive on all kinds of water, measures would be taken to release it in water containers, sumps and wells from March, Dr. Sivanesan said.

The State-wide initiative, under the Total Sanitation Project, is seen as a cost-effective way to curtail the spread of mosquitoes, especially anopheles, culex and aedes (mosquito species) that spreads malaria, dengue and chikungunya.