The Times of India             24.09.2013

Jaipur Municipal Corporation begins fogging drive

JAIPUR: With limited resources, Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) along with the health department started the fogging drive in the city to check the spread of seasonal diseases.

The JMC started anti-larval fogging in ward number 44 on Monday. Sanitation committee chairman Roshan Saini claimed, "Our target is to cover all the 77 wards this month. Wards with a high possibility of spread of fatal diseases will be targeted first."

Like every year, this year too only one machine will be used for carrying out the fogging drive despite the city expanding significantly in the past one decade. Saini agreed that "We should have at least two machines so that fogging in four wards can be done in one day."

The corporation has prepared a list of areas where breeding of mosquitoes is a major problem. It will carry out the drive in areas, including Civil Lines, Mansarovar, Malviya Nagar among others.

The JMC has two fogging machines but one of these has been out of order for a long time. The municipal corporation gets the other machine repaired ahead of the season every year. This year too the same routine is being followed and the 'working' machine was used on a trial basis two days ago.

"We have started fogging by using pyrethrum in diesel to kill mosquitoes," said an official.

Sources in the department claimed that lack of technical experts is also preventing the civic body from using more machines in the drive.

"People who know how to operate these machines are required as the city is expanding manifold. The JMC has another machine which is more sophisticated but is not being used," officials said.

Sources said that maintenance of such machines is an expensive task and the cash strapped civic body is finding it difficult to add more machines to add to the existing fleet.

"The operational cost of a fogging machine is quite high. For one hour, the machine requires 100 litre of diesel and 5 litre of the chemical used in fogging. It also needs 13 litre of petrol to heat the burner of the machine and produce smoke. The mixture of diesel and the chemical turns into a 'lethal fog' which kills mosquitoes."

Some claimed that the delay in starting the drive is the fight between the JMC and health department on who would conduct the fogging operation in the city.

Many also claimed , there was a delay in starting a fogging as the health department and JMC have always been at loggerheads over fogging. The JMC officials say that the health department should conduct fogging as it is a health issue, while the health department officials say that it is JMC's duty to keep the area clean from insects.