The Hindu      23.01.2011

20 vehicle-mounted fogging machines commissioned

The Chennai Corporation on Saturday commissioned 20 vehicle-mounted fogging machines for improving mosquito control operations. The machines have been procured at a cost of Rs.58 lakh. With this, the number of vehicle-mounted fogging machines with the Corporation has increased to 47.

Speaking at the function, Mayor M. Subramanian said, “All 30 units of the Corporation will now have a fogging machine and a worker exclusively for operating the machine. The additional machines available will be used for fogging operations in areas where special attention is required.”

He urged malaria workers to work hard towards keeping mosquito density low.

The commissioning of more fogging machines would boost the special mosquito control operation in the city, said Ashish Kumar, Deputy Commissioner (Health), Chennai Corporation.

The civic body recently launched a massive fogging operation to control the density of adult mosquitoes. The operations cover over 3,300 km of roads in the city simultaneously every Friday.

The adult mosquito density is yet to be reduced in some areas, he added.

The massive fogging operation was in response to malaria cases being reported on account of the increase in the number of temporary breeding sources, a Corporation official said.

The civic body has deployed 1,267 malaria workers for mosquito control operations.

The civic body has been using 180 small fogging machines also.

As part of anti-mosquito operations, it has collected 500 tonnes of old tyres that served as breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

It has also procured nine catamarans and four fibre boats for spraying insecticide in 110-km-long waterways in the city.