The Kochi Corporation’s reluctance to respond to the RTIs is not new. Earlier, if it was in connection with the convening of gramsabhas, this time it is with regard to various projects undertaken to wipe out mosquito menace in the city. The Corporation hasn’t divulged much details in response to a RTI filed in this regard and the only information it was willing to disclose is regarding the fund it received for various mosquito eradication programmes.
The Civic body hasn’t responded to queries about various steps taken to curb the menace and its results. It also hasn’t answered questions regarding the surveys held on the effectiveness of the projects and the intervals at which the mosquito-control projects were implemented.
D B Binu, state general secretary, Kerala Human Rights Defence Forum, who filed the RTI, said the stance of the Corporation was doubtful. “Either the Corporation did not have the required information or it didn’t want to divulge it. It would not be wrong to assume that the projects failed,” he said.
Binu added that the easiest way to curb mosquito menace was to route saline water to the drains. “The Corporation is resorting to other methods to get funds as nobody will fund a saline water project,” he said. Binu added that he would approach the State Information Commission against Corporation.
Meanwhile, M Anil Kumar, Councillor, Elamakkara, said the Corporation stance proves that even the drive recently undertaken by it went awry.
Sources said the Kochi Corporation had earlier conducted a study on mosquito menace.
The study team, led by the late Kunthala Jayaraman of Vector Control Research Centre, Vellore, has proposed the use of bio-larvicides, an expensive mosquito repellant. “Prior to it, the Corporation was using cheap repellant. The Corporation decided to implement the suggestion during the tenure of Dinesh Mani. “Though the company which manufactured the spray directly supplied it at first, the project was wrapped up after many local agencies ushered into the scene,” sources said. However, T K Ashraf, chairman, Health Standing Committee Chairman, refuted the charges. “For the past two years, we have been undertaking many measures which yielded result to an extend. The Corporation can furnish only those details in its purview,” he said.
New Projects
The Kochi Corporation Council has approved a new proposal to buy four big sprayers and 20 small hand-held sprayers. Each spraying machine will cost around Rs 1 lakh.