The Times of India  06.08.2010

BMC hopes to fight malaria while the sun shines

MUMBAI: The break from the incessant rain in the city may offer the BMC an opportunity to contain the malaria menace.

With the showers halting for a few days, the breeding rate of mosquitoes, the malaria vector, may decrease, say an expert. While the city received a scanty 2.3 mm average rainfall on Wednesday, the amount was similar even on Thursday. The Met department has also predicted less rain till Saturday. "We cannot predict for the next week, but till Saturday, the city and the suburbs is likely receive only occasional showers with the maximum temperature remaining around 32 degrees Celsius,'' said a weather official.

While the current two-day break is hardly going to help civic officials check mosquito breeding, they hope that the weather would continue being like this for a while. "Only if it remains sunny for about eight days will the water accumulated in potholes on the roads evaporate, eliminating the breeding place for mosquitoes. That may prove to be helpful for us,'' said Dr G T Ambe, executive health officer, BMC.

Incidentally, it takes around three days of dry spell to successfully fill up potholes. "As and when we are receiving complaints of any potholes cropping up, we are filling them up, trying to save them from turning into a breeding ground for mosquitoes,'' said additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta.