Hyderabad: Officials waging battle against mosquitoes

There are several areas in Karwan constituency, which suffer from mosquito menace like Tolichowki, Hakeempet, MD Lines, Ahmed Colony, Langer House and Golconda

As they found no success with the oil balls experiment, the officials took recourse to spraying chemicals through drones. Recently, entomology wing launched drone operations in Shah Hatim Tank

Karwan: GHMC entomology wing has taken up several special initiatives from releasing 'oil balls' to spraying chemical through drones in lakes to control the mosquitoes menace in several areas in Karwan constituency.

There are several areas in Karwan constituency, which suffer from mosquito menace like Tolichowki, Hakeempet, MD Lines, Ahmed Colony, Langer House and Golconda. To control the mosquitoes, last month the entomology wing decided to try 'oil balls' on an experimental basis, but they fail.

According to officials, they released over 2,500 oil balls in the Langer Houz pond. The balls dissolve within 5 minutes and put an end to all the breeding activities. The process of making them involves gunny bags. The bags are first cut into pieces and filled with sawdust and prepared in the shape of a ball. Then they are soaked in Mosquito Larvae Seedle Oil (MLO) for 24 hours. As this oil which was used was used oil collected from the motor service centers and prepare oil balls.

As they found no success with the oil balls experiment, the officials took recourse to spraying chemicals through drones. Recently, the entomology wing and Karwan MLA Kausar Mohiuddin launched spraying of chemicals through drones in Shah Hatim Tank to control mosquitoes. According to them, the anti-mosquito campaign would continue for three months at different places.

The lake always remains filled with garbage and filth, the water hyacinth (Gurrapu Decca) floating all over it remains a cause of health issues to the residents as it provides an ideal breeding ground for mosquitos. The water hyacinth covers the entire lake despite the claims by authorities that it is being removed regularly. The lake has been facing neglect from the authorities who make tall claim about its development. "Many projects were taken up by the GHMC and MLA for the beautification of lakes in Karwan, but still there is no progress whatever at the any of these lakes, which remain in worst condition. Langar Houz Lake and Shah Hatim Lake are surrounded by residential colonies and the nearby areas and remain a major cause of health-related issues, causing diseases like malaria, dengue and other vector-borne diseases," said Osman Bin Mohammed Al Hajri, a Congress leader.