Cuttack: The residents of the Silver City here have been facing mosquito menace for last several days.
They are now living under the fear of vector-borne diseases as the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) has failed to check the rise in mosquito population in the city, sources said.
According to the locals, the mosquito population in the city has gone up significantly in recent days. Mosquito bite has become a regular phenomenon for the residents of all 59 wards of the city.
The locals have blamed poor sanitation as a major cause for the rise in mosquito population in the city. According to them, the CMC has failed to keep the drains and ponds of the city clean to prevent rise in mosquito population.
Moreover, the civic body has not been spraying mosquito oil on the drains for last several days, locals claimed.
“Mosquito bite has become a common thing for us. We are facing mosquito menace day and night. Filthy drains and ponds of the city have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes. We are living under the fear of vector-borne diseases,” said Parbati Rout, a resident of Ward No. 32. Locals have alleged that the CMC is not undertaking regular fogging in the city to tackle the mosquito menace. “The civic authorities should go for regular fogging to save us from mosquito bite,” said Gobardhan Barik of ward no. 50.
A few locals have also alleged that the CMC authorities have been using substandard chemicals for fogging. “The civic authorities are collecting several taxes from the residents. They should use quality chemicals for fogging purpose,” Priyabrata Lenka of Ward No 31.
However, CMC health officer Umesh Panigrahi claimed that the mosquito density in the city has gone down in past one week. “The mosquito density in the city was 60 a week ago. Now, the density has reached 53. We hope that the mosquito menace will be solved within a few days,” Panigrahi said.
Notably, mosquito density is calculated on the basis of the number of mosquitoes caught by 10 people in an hour by using as aspirator.