Why mosquitoes flock to the suburbs

Mumbai: As Mumbaikars grapple with the menace of culex mosquitoes, known to multiply rapidly by laying 200-400 eggs at once, officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have said the suburbs are the worst affected by the peril, while the island city remains relatively safe.

The storm water drains (SWD) in the island city are covered and have a double pipe drainage system (separate for sewage and storm water). The drains have grilles at intervals, which enables the civic body to treat the water inside through them to keep the pests away. The situation is different in the suburbs where the SWDs are covered with heavy cement lids in line with the footpaths, with openings on the side of the road. “It is very difficult for BMC officials to lift these lids and fumigate. The illegal discharge of water and sewage in the SWDs further increase the problem,” said an official. He added, open nallahs in the suburbs cause further hitch, as “they are filled with garbage and stagnant water – a major breeding ground for culex mosquitoes”.

HT on Wednesday reported an increase in this breed of mosquitoes (also known as nuisance mosquitoes) in the city. While BMC indulged in inter-departmental blame game, citizens shared their troubles created by the nuisance mosquitoes.

Aslam Shaikh, who volunteers to take care of a graveyard in Bandra east along with a few others, is compelled to exit the space at 5pm every day. “The mosquitoes will stick to you; they do not move and attack from all sides. Our hands and upper body have red marks from mosquito bites,” said Shaikh, who also helps fill soil in the graveyard. “The unclean nallah nearby aggravates the problem.”

Civic officials have said that the staff strength of 1600 in the pest control department is inadequate. The numbers were sanctioned many years ago, which is not aligned to the need that the rapidly growing city demands today. “There is a team that goes around inspecting buildings’ water tanks and other sites in the ward. We also have to visit every construction site once a week and carry out treatments to avoid the spread of mosquitoes there. We look out for malaria and dengue mosquito breeding sites as well,” said an official, underscoring that there are over 6000 construction and the under-construction sites in the city that require weekly visits.

“It would help if people’s attitude towards hygiene changed. They need to stop throwing garbage in the nallahs; unless that is done, things will not improve,” said another official.

A senior BMC official said fumigation only works in a closed environment. “It needs around 15 minutes for the smoke to be in an enclosed environment for it be effective,” he said, adding the fumigation carried out inside the closed SWDs work but lifting the heavy lids is a task.

Amol Varekar, a banker who lives in Sion is considering moving to a different area. “I can’t live here. You cannot stand in your own building even for a minute. The mosquitoes stick to you and bite,” he said. Varekar also said in order to keep the pests out, people keep their windows shut at all times. “To protect their children, many have resorted to the old habit of fixing nets to their beds. The mosquito repellent coils are poisonous and hence unsafe to be burnt continuously. We are now using safe incense sticks,” he said.

The menace has inspired content creators -- stand-up comic Nitesh Shetty’s reel on Instagram on the subject has garnered more than 3.7 million views in a month. His reel ‘Mosquito biography’ takes a humourous approach to the menace and underlines people’s frustrations. “The problem is so severe that everyone is talking about it. One night when the mosquitoes kept my wife and me awake, we created a fictional account of mosquitoes talking to one another. That’s when I decided to make the video,” said Shetty.

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