Admn begins fogging drive

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 24

Taking proactive measures, the Patiala district administration will start fogging in every lane of the city for the next one month to get rid of mosquitoes.

Announcing the campaign, the administration said on every Friday, fogging would be done to tackle the menace.

“Keeping in mind vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria, the district administration is going to launch a campaign to make the city mosquito-free,” said Additional Deputy Commissioner Poonam Deep Kaur said after meeting health officials.

Under the campaign, district administration and health officials will be going door to door to make residents of the city aware of preventive measures against the vector-borne diseases.

Last year, the city recorded 2,434 cases of dengue, 31 cases of malaria and 110 cases of chikungunya. Moreover, cases were being under-reported as most of the patients usually avoid the test to confirm the disease once the fever subsides.

“Fogging will continue for one month. Machines on the job will be working day and night in every ward 

and every lane,” said MC Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira.

“Though fogging and sanitation are the responsibility of civic agencies, we are holding malaria awareness camps on a regular basis. The move is designed not only to kill the aedes aegypti and anopheles mosquitoes but also carriers of dengue and chikungunya viruses and the malaria parasite,” said Civil Surgeon Harish Malhotra.

However, experts believe that chemicals used in the smoke during fogging kill only adult mosquitoes; therefore, extensive anti-larvae measures are needed to weed out the population of vectors.

“Sustained exposure to high doses of chemicals such as malathion and cyphenothrin, while fogging, can cause skin and eye irritation, and headache, hence, people are advised to cover their faces with an anti-pollution mask during such operations,” said the experts.