Our city is also looking for a Pied Piper.

Not to get rid of rats, but mosquitoes. The rising heat and the stagnant water-filled canals are making the city a comfortable habitat for mosquitoes. These mosquitoes get busy in the evening and almost all houses in the city are filled with these harmful insects that carry diseases like dengue and malaria.

“Do not let water stagnate inside or outside your house. This is the best way to tackle the problem,” said a health department official. But in a city like Kochi with a number of canals, simply keeping your household clean is just not enough. “Mosquitoes lay their larvae in the stagnant canal water and within a few weeks they multiply,” the official added.

The Kochi Corporation authorities said that they would take preventive measures to tackle the mosquito menace in the city.

“We have already given instructions to the health department to take precautions to prevent mosquito breeding. Extensive pest control measures will be taken up and we have already started fogging,” health standing committee chairman N A Mani said.

But health experts are concerned about the chemicals used to kill adult mosquitoes and their potential harmful effects. “The insecticide fog is composed of pyrethrum, piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and oil. Large quantities of pyrethrum can be harmful to humans,” he said.

An official from the health department said that there was no point in killing mosquitoes after providing them enough space to breed. “Biolarvicide can be an effective measure. If water in the canals flows without any interruption it will reach the Boundary-Rameswaram canal, and from there it will flow to the lake.

But the Boundary-Rameswaram canal has not been properly cleaned. It is filled with solid waste and weeds. If the canal water flows to the lake there is a chance of automatic flushing.

During the high tide, salt water will be flushed in and during low tide it will be flushed out. But solid waste and weeds should be removed up to the base level,” the official said.

Mani said that the Corporation had already instructed the irrigation department to desilt the Boundary-Rameswaram canal.

“The cleaning of the canal is the responsibility of the irrigation department. It has already floated a tender and the cleaning work will begin soon,” he added.