BRAHMANSAHI (PURI): An entire village in Pipili block of Puri district is battling a queer and most unanticipated post-flood problem - a massive invasion of ants. Legions of the insects, suspected to be fire ants, have taken over the Brahmansahi village under Chandradeipur panchayat, not only making lives of over a 100 families miserable but also forcing a few to flee their homes.
The swarms can be seen everywhere in in the village - from houses to roads, walls, trees, open land etc.. Lakhs of the insects have started making colonies in every corner of the village including trees, roots, sand, wood piles, mud walls of houses and electric boards.
Unable to find solution to the menace, three families have already left the village in the recent weeks, while others are haplessly waiting for administrative intervention to overcome the crisis.The ants of dull red shade are slightly bigger in size than the normal ones. Veterinarians suspect the ants to be fire ants or another variant.
However, members of the district pest control team and experts from Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) who visited the spot to look into the matter, said the exact species can be established after the samples are examined by entomologists.
Villagers said many people including kids and elderly women have developed infection, skin rashes and itching after being bitten by the ants. “The poisonous ants are attacking every other creature including rats, snakes, lizards, frogs and other crawling insects,” said Debi Prasad Dash, a villager. He said the situation has come to such a point that people are drawing a circle around them using insecticide chalks on the floor while having a meal at their houses.
“We haven’t faced such problem earlier. Things have become so annoying that families of Kumuda Dash, Renubala Dash and Nabakishore Dash have already left the village, while many others will soon do so if the situation worsens,” said Prakash Dash, another villager.
Ward member Raj Prasad Dash said the menace started after water-level in a nearby canal increased after the floods. He said the villagers have requested the local administration to clear bushes and weedy growth from the entire village and spray insecticide in the area.
The pest control team and OUAT experts who visited the village along with Pipili block development officer BDO Rashmita Nath said samples have been sent to the University to identify the species for appropriate pest control measures. “Ant colonies are not new to the locality. However, we had no clue it would turn so menacing,” said OUAT senior scientist Sanjay Kumar Mohanty.
He said skin irritation among some villagers could be due to formic acid released by ants.“We will require to destroy the colonies and eliminate the queen ants. It will be done scientifically,” he said. The BDO said bush cleaning and insecticide spray work will be ramped up. Medical teams are visiting the village to treat affected people, he said.