Hyderabad: She mosquitoes hard to trap

Hyderabad: The war on mosquitoes has trapped more males than females. This, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) says, is because the female mosquito is likelier to be indoors or closer to collected freshwater.

In the last 15 days, the GHMC has aggressively fogged, sprayed and checked mosquitoes in gardens, roads, open drains and open garbage dumps. It trapped and killed more males, the entomology wing found.

Few females have been trapped. They remain close to freshwater collected in drinking water containers, flower pot trays, coolers, overhead tanks, wheel tyres and broken bottles, found in apartment compounds, independent homes and commercial complexes, an internal review showed. Hence, the GHMC is stressing community participation and awareness.

“We cannot enter each and every home. People must check water storage containers, overhead tanks and other freshwater collection points,” GHMC chief entomologist Ram Babu said. “These are conducive for the female mosquito to breed.” In hotels, commercial complexes and hospitals, freshwater was found collected in cooking utensils and had facilitated breeding. Tea and coffee cups in a hotel dumpster dumping had collected rainwater, and eggs were laid. Hoteliers were warned against sloppy dumping and told to clear garbage daily.

The lifespan of female aedes egypti mosquito is 30 to 40 days. She feeds on blood and habitually goes on biting sprees.

She can bite more than 50 a day. But she cannot go beyond 500 metres in her life-cycle. Hence trapping in medically-proved dengue is the yardstick to track her.

Haphazard reporting makes it a challenge to identify where she is most active. Government data shows 53 dengue-prone areas and the GHMC will zoom in on these places to eliminate her.

Prominent areas include Somajiguda, Yusufguda, Moosapet, Birla Mandir, Gunfoundry, Gandhina-gar, Shantinagar, Hakim-pet, Karwan, Addagutta, Ashok Nagar, Prakash Nagar, Bholakpur among others. Three hundred areas in GHMC circles are identified as risk zones, but work will first start in these 53 clusters.