The Hindu 29.09.2009

Mosquito density comes down in city

Deepa H. Ramakrishnan

— Photo R.Ragu

Preventive measure: Corporation workers spraying larvicide on the Cooum river recently to prevent mosquito breeding.

CHENNAI: Following intensive fogging and spraying operations by the Chennai Corporation, the mosquito density in the city has come down from 80 to the sub-40 level per ten man-hours.

An official of the Corporation’s Health Department said that mosquito density was arrived at by dividing the total number of mosquitoes caught by the number of minutes taken to catch them. The result so obtained is multiplied by 600 minutes (10 man-hours).

The mosquitoes are caught using suction tubes. The official added that if the density was below 50 it was considered low, between 50 and 83 medium and 84 and beyond, high.

According to data provided by the civic body, in Tondiarpet, Stanley Nagar in Washermenpet and M.G.R. Nagar and Kutcheri Road in Mylapore the density was 80 during a survey on September 12 and 13. In Anna Nagar it was 72, Spurtank Road 48, G.N. Chetty Road 64 and Lloyds Road 72.

A similar survey on September 19 and 20 found that the density had come down to sub-40 levels in all areas except Anna Nagar, where it was 48.

Corporation Health Officer P. Kuganantham said: “The civic body started fogging and spraying operations on August 31. We are concentrating on the breeding and resting places of mosquitoes. Anti-larvicide is being sprayed in canals, slum areas, parks and stormwater drain networks in the mornings and these areas are fogged in the evenings.”

Mayor M. Subramanian said that unlike in the past, this year, the civic body was conducting intense fogging and spraying operations. “We are also undertaking de-silting operations in canals to prevent breeding of mosquitoes.”

Residents of several localities, however, say there is little change in the situation. Krishnamurthi, a resident of Abhiramapuram, said: “We did not see any fogging or spraying operation taking place in our area.”

Annathurai of Moolakothalam said his locality, located between a garbage dump and a graveyard and the Cooum river in the neighbourhood, was infested with mosquitoes. “Though the Corporation undertakes regular fogging operations, it is of little use.”

The Hindu 27.09.2009

Shift garbage dump: residents

Special Correspondent

— Photo:M.Moorthy

Bad: Fire service men dousing fire in the garbage depot at Ariyamangalam Yard.

B.Srinivasalu: The dump should be shifted out of the city. Water contamination could occur.

TIRUCHI: Even as the Fire and Rescue Service and civic officials continue to fight yet another blaze at the garbage dump at Ariyamangalam, the Corporation has started a hunt to identify alternative site to deposit the 400 tonnes of solid waste generated every day in the city.

This is second major fire at the garbage dump in as many months and last month local residents even laid siege to the Corporation garbage trucks demanding that the dump be shifted. About 350 to 400 tonnes of garbage collected everyday is dumped at the yard spread over an area of 45 acres.

Though the dump, functional over the past few decades, was once an isolated area, several residential colonies have come up in the area over the past decade. Irate residents in and around the dump have long been complaining of severe air and ground water pollution, apart from the health hazard posed by the conditions of squalor. “A garbage dump cannot be located in a residential area,” says M.D.Saravanan, a resident of Balaji Nagar Extension.

“The dump is close to the highway and whenever there is a fire, road users are put to much inconvenience. Residents are faced with the prospect of water contamination in the ensuing rainy season,” says B.Srinivasulu, another resident.

Raghu G.Desai: The garbage should be segregated and disposed in a scientific manner.

M.D.Saravanan:The garbage dump should be located in a non-residential area.

The dump should be shifted out of the city. This apart, the Corporation should find a scientific method to dispose the wastes. Otherwise, the garbage will remain a health hazard to the residents, says Raghu G.Desai, a resident of Balaji Nagar.

Rising public indignation and pressure from elected representatives has put the Corporation under pressure, forcing it to explore alternative arrangements now. Corporation officials concede that they are in a bind – it would be virtually impossible to remove the garbage from the site. A bio-composting project launched last year has not proved to be a solution. Even a proposal to use the site for an integrated bus stand had to be dropped. Sources say that a couple of alternative sites have been identified to dump the city’s solid waste as there has been a demand for immediate stoppage of dumping at the Ariyamangalam site.

But a permanent solution, officials say, would lie in the implementation of a cluster-based solid waste management planned for Tiruchi and some of the neighbouring municipalities. A common solid waste processing facility is planned under the project, possibly in the Panchapur sewage disposal farm. But the project could take a few years to see the light of the day and whether the Corporation would be able to find a solution to the problem until such time remains to be seen.