'Destroying larvae effective way to control mosquitoes'

Public can control dengue and malaria in an effective way by clearing stagnant water and destroying mosquito larvae, Deputy Commissioner S Sasikanth Senthil said on Sunday.

The deputy commissioner had appealed to the public to observe Sunday as Dengue Drive Day and flagged off the campaign from the DC’s official residence in Balmatta.

“Generally, the public blame local administration for not carrying out fogging. It is a wrong notion that fogging will eliminate mosquitoes. When fogging is carried, mosquitoes will enter the houses and more people end up being bitten by the infected mosquitoes. But one can check diseases caused by mosquitoes through source reduction,” he said.

“Finding mosquito breeding places and destroying larvae is an effective way to control mosquitoes. Such drives against mosquitoes should be observed on a regular basis,” Senthil added.

District Health Officer Dr Ramakrishna, activist Suresh Shetty, District Information and Publicity Department Assistant Director B A Khader Shah and others accompanied the deputy commissioner in tracing and destroying places with stagnant water and mosquito larvae.

Dengue Drive Day campaign was also held on Zilla Panchayat office premises. Many places containing stagnant water were detected in the area.

Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr R Selvamani and Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) Joint Commissioner Gayathri Nayak were also present.

Senthil also inaugurated the awareness drive against dengue at City Centre Mall in Mangaluru on Sunday. Students of Srinivas University performed a flash mob on the occasion.

Meet with institutions

The deputy commissioner said a meeting of the heads of educational institutions would be convened at Town Hall on July 29 at 10 am.

He said that mosquito breeding sites were found on the premises of education institutions and hostels, resulting in more number of students getting effected with dengue and malaria.

Clear instructions have been given to the educational institutions to clear stagnant water on their premises, he added.