Vijayawada : Pesticide-based mosquito coils pose health risk, says NGO

Vijayawada: An awareness campaign was conducted in Vijayawada on the illegal sale of pesticide-laced spurious mosquito repellent incense sticks or coils.

Organised by the Akhand Bharat Jan Kalyaan Sewa Sansthan, an NGO, the campaign told traders at the markets in Vijayawada like Kaleswara Rao, Kothapet, Purnanandam Pet, Bhavanipuram, Gollapudi Mahendra Nagar that selling the mosquito coils was a criminal offence. The awareness campaign was conducted across 17 busy market areas located in five cities of AP and Telangana.  

The NGO collected over 150 affidavits from wholesalers and retailers that they would refrain from selling such repellents.

Post the awareness campaign; banners were put across shops, creating awareness about illegal mosquito repellent coils.

Sansthan senior manager Sharad Tiwari said, “The use of pesticide-laced spurious mosquito repellent incense sticks is becoming rampant in AP and TS. Retailers such as pan-beedi shops and stores are key touch points where consumers buy these illegal coils. Hence, it is imperative to raise awareness of these harmful products.”

He added, “Increased usage of spurious mosquito incense sticks can cause  health disorders. There has been a considerable increase in the number of children suffering from  respiratory issues.”

This concern has led to the AP and TS governments taking strong action against pesticide-laced spurious mosquito repellent coils.”

He said that recently, the TS department of agriculture raided and sealed manufacturing units of Green India Marketing at Patancheru, which was responsible for the manufacturing and distributing illegally pesticide-laced spurious coils brands - Fast Relax and Sainik, Sleepwell across the two Telugu states.

The raids were conducted to unearth the sale of such unapproved pesticide-laced spurious coils  (agarbattis) that are being peddled into the local markets illegally.