PUDUCHERRY: There is no respite for those living in the town and surrounding areas from mosquito menace, as the administration is yet to act to arrest the larval growth.

If the residents had to confront the insect during the evenings before, now they have to live with it even during the daytime. "It is frightening to open the windows even at 8 a.m. in the morning, as swarms of mosquitoes are in the portico. We did not have this problem earlier," gripes Santhosh Puri, a resident of Periyar Street, Ashok Nagar. According to the statistics available with the National Vector Board Disease Control Programme office here, 61 cases of chikungunya have been reported so far in Puducherry. Till the first week of November 2006, 46 cases of malaria were reported as against 44 in 2005. As on November 6, the number of dengue cases reported was 12 against 18 in 2005.

Fogging, taken up as an interim measure, has turned out to be ineffective, as over the years the insects have developed resistance to the pesticide, says a doctor.

The Local Administration and Public Works Departments are supposed to work out a sustained strategy to control the menace, but they have not come out with anything so far.

A majority of the 22 major drainage and 100-odd minor canals in the town have not been de-silted and have become an breeding ground for the insects. The silt fills the drains at Sami Pillai Thottam, Surya Gandhi Nagar, Lawspet Main Road, the inaccessible canals at Uppar and Jeeva Nagar and open soak pits at Indira Nagar are just a few of the mosquito breeding places in and around the town. Then there are the low-lying areas at Krishna Nagar and other parts. Health Department officials say the incidents of chikungunya are an eye opener.

"As more and more migrant people come here from vector disease-prone areas where Japanese encephalitis and kala-azar are prevalent, an outbreak of these diseases can't ruled out," warns an official. Officials say they submitted many proposals to the PWD, especially on de-silting, but they did not find favour.

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