Residents of New Town are alleging a rise in mosquito population and several residents’ welfare associations have requested the New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) to set up nets over canals that cut criss-cross the township.
The NKDA has already laid nets over a portion of the Kestopur canal in at least four places as part of a pilot project to see whether it contains the winged menace, an NKDA official said.
According to him, the residents’ welfare associations of several housing complexes in all three action areas that are near the canals have requested the authorities to use nets over the water.
According to the official, several meetings were held with entomologists to figure out a way to reduce the mosquito population and one of the suggestions was to cover portions of the canal close to the banks.
According to the official, water in the Kestopur and Bagjola canals move slowly and people often dump garbage along the banks. This causes the water to stagnate,an ideal breeding ground of mosquitoes.
NKDA chairman Debashis Sen said the nets would serve two purposes. “People will not be able to dump garbage into the water and even if mosquitoes lay eggs, new adult mosquitoes will not be able to fly out,” Sen said .
According to Sen, they had also launched a campaign to create awareness among residents.
Residents of New Town’s AB, AD, AI, AL, CD, CE and DC blocks have been complaining about mosquitoes since the beginning of the year.
Monojit Biswas, a resident of Action Area I, said he had to shut all doors and windows of his house by 3.30pm.
“Even then mosquitoes enter through gaps in the exhaust fan vents in the kitchen and toilet. We cannot survive without mosquito nets and repellents,” said Biswas.
Anja Sen, a resident of Uniworld City in New Town, said they had instructed their housekeeping staff to spray larvicide around the complex at regular intervals.
“This is in addition to what the NKDA vector control teams are doing. Mosquitoes are turning out to be the toughest challenge for us this year as we cannot step out and stay still for a moment as they bite everywhere,” said Sen.
