Shiv Chandra Jha of Diptatoli says he has now decided to sit inside a mosquito net during evening prayers since it is otherwise impossible concentrate.
“Of late, I haven’t been able to sit for my evening prayers and concentrate adequately. Such is the number of mosquitoes that I have decided to take refuge inside a mosquito net,” said the resident of New Nagar, who runs a book store.
Others like Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Lower Burdwan Compound, and Biabhav Singh, a student of Chutia, echoed similar experiences.
“My locality is clean but God knows where the mosquitoes come from. Sleeping inside a mosquito net at night is fine. But we need to use nets in the day time too,” said Singh.
Ask Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) and they say efforts like fogging were on to curb the vector menace, although residents’, all mindful of last year’s dengue outbreak in the capital, denied seeing any such effort in their area.
RMC assistant medical officer Kiran Kumari insisted fogging was being done according to a roaster, but at least three councilors refuted her claim.
“The last time I saw fogging machines in my area was six months ago,” said Arun Kumar Jha, councilor of ward 26, comprising localities of Harmu Housing Colony.
“There has been no fogging in my ward, which includes the slums of Karbala Chowk and Lower Bazar. I don’t think any roster for fogging is being maintained,” said ward 16 councilor Nazima Raza.
Councilor of ward 10 Arjun Kumar Yadav said he got fogging done in his area, covering Kokar, Bhabha Nagar and Burwan Compound, last week after requesting the RMC medical officer. “Our area needs daily fogging” he said.
The RMC has 10 thermal fogging machines of which eight work.
“The problem will be sorted out soon. Mosquitoes have not even spared me, too,” said Kumari.
She revealed that this year, the civic body was, for the first time, procuring three cold-mist fogging machines to upgrade its arsenal against the vector menace. With a more precise aim, these cold-mist fogging machines, which cost Rs 30 lakh each, are superior to conventional thermal fogging ones.
“By April 20, the three new machines would come and we will be able conduct fogging every alternate day. We also increased the number of workers from two to four in each ward,” she said.
The old-mist fogging technique, Kumari explained, was more effective to destroy dengue vectors (Aedes aegypti mosquitoes).
“The chemical (insecticide) is mixed with water and sprayed with pin-point accuracy at identified adult mosquitoes resting places, like under drains, garden spots, interiors of houses, even discarded pots and tyres. The insecticide solution is mechanically broken down using high-speed rotary nozzles to produce an aerosol-like effect,” she said.
In contrast, thermal fogging uses chemicals mixed with fuels which have to be sprayed in the form of smog. “You can’t have precision with a smog,” she said.
An RMC official said the civic body also had around 600 hand-held machines to spray larvicide, but even with that and the thermal fogging machines, they were hard-pressed to cover all 53 wards.
“Earlier, we could cover only two or three wards in a day. But with cold-mist fogging machines, we will be able to cover more number of wards in a day and that too with more precision,” he said.
In 2018, over 350 Ranchi residents suffered from dengue. Unconfirmed reports claimed two casualties but the health department did not accept it. Contacted, Ranchi civil surgeon Dr Vijay Prasad said, “Yes, there was a dengue outbreak in Ranchi last year but no casualty. The blood samples of two persons suspected to have died of dengue turned negative in the Elisa test,” he said.
In Jamshedpur, civic utilities firm Jusco has been using cold-mist fogging machines since a while.
