GUNTUR: As people are spending sleepless nights due to increase in mosquito menace in the city, the Guntur Municipal Corporation (GMC) has come up with a plan of action. It is aimed at making the city mosquito-free.
As part of the plan, the GMC has identified 180 slums in the city. Vacant plots have also been identified to check dumping of garbage and stagnation of rainwater.
Steps have been taken to clear choked and stagnated drains which turned into mosquito breeding grounds. Four malaria inspectors and 180 contract workers have been deployed to create an awareness among people about measures to be taken to check the growth of mosquitoes by conducting a door-to-door campaign. Each worker visits 120 houses a day and advises people on precautions to be taken to prevent the growth of mosquitoes. Fogging and anti-larval operations are being conducted in slum areas on a regular basis.
The GMC which identified 1,500 vacant plots in the city, has issued notices to some of the owners asking them to keep their lands clean.
According to GMC biologist G Veerraju, 150 malaria and dengue cases have been registered in the city in the past six months. The Medical and Health Department staff are collecting blood samples in disease prone areas on a regular basis to detect malaria and dengue cases.
GMC Commissioner Ch Anuradha said: “If owners fail to keep their vacant plots clean, the GMC will develop those sites and collect 10 times extra cost from them as penalty.”
The GMC health staff are conducting daily inspections to check the outbreak of seasonal diseases in the city, she said.