Drive against mosquito menace

Tirupati: In all, 110 municipal towns in the State will be declared as open defecation free (ODF) areas from October 2, three years ahead of making the entire country ODF, as part of Swachh Bharat in 2019, said Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development P Narayana.

Speaking at a rally taken out as part of the State-wide war on mosquito menace here on Saturday, the Minister claimed that Andhra Pradesh is the first State to make all its municipal areas as ODF from Gandhi Jayanti day as part of the efforts to improve the health status of the people in the State.

The Minister joined the rally from Lakshmipuram circle in the city to MGM High School in Bairagipatteda where a public meeting was held.Forest Minister B Gopalakrishna Reddy, MLC Y Srinivasulu Reddy, local MLA M Suguna, District Collector Siddharth Jain, municipal commissioner V Vinay Chand and others were participated. Addressing a meeting, Narayana said that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is keen on enhancing the health status of the people as it is imperative for their economic growth.

Accordingly, `war on mosquitoes’ was launched across the State to contain the mosquitoes causing dreaded diseases, including dengue, malaria and other viral diseases. Saying that people participation is a must to ensure the success of the government initiative to end mosquito menace, he explained the anti-mosquito measures.

Citing that Sri Lanka was able to end the mosquito problem, he stressed on the people to take steps to avoid stagnation of water and keep the environment clean to avoid breeding of mosquitoes. He called upon the people to observe every Friday as dry day, clearing of stagnation of water in open sites, water containers and flower pots. Collector Siddharth Jain said that a command and control room has been set up at the Collectorate in Chittoor to receive petitions on anti-larva and anti-mosquito measures in the district, including urban and rural areas.

The programme was observed in all municipal towns in the district, including in Madanapalli, where the sub-collector, along with local MLA Desai Thippa Reddy and MLC Naresh Kumar Reddy, visited several localities in the town to expedite sanitation measures, including cleaning of the major drains like Bahuda canal. They also took part in a rally taken out to mark the ‘war on mosquito day’.Later, they took part in ‘Vanam Manam programme held near Namas Kunta and planted saplings.