In S Delhi, gambusia fish to now fight larvae

New Delhi: To control the spread of vector-borne diseases ahead of the monsoon season, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has released gambusia or mosquito-fish in 100 water bodies under its jurisdiction as they are known for voraciously feeding on mosquito-larvae. The mosquito-fish eats mosquito larvae and is used to biologically control the spread of mosquito larvae. Till May this year the city has reported over 29 Dengue cases

SDMC Mayor Anamika Mithilesh Singh said, "The civic agency is making special efforts to prevent and control vector-borne diseases. Gambusia fish has been released in 46 water bodies/ponds till now. The (gambusia) fish can be released in ponds, water collections, water bodies and drains as it has expertise in eating mosquito larvae". In addition to this, the Mayor also convened a meeting with senior officials of the Public Health Department and asked them to intensify preventive measures against vector-borne diseases.

The Public Health Department has been conducting a special drive to check mosquito breeding at the premises of educational institutions. The Department has conducted drives in as many as 484 such institutions and has found mosquito breeding in 118 institutions. Legal notices and challans were also issued to these 118 educational institutions.

Among these institutions were, Don Bosco School, Lady Irwin School, Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur Nursing College, Acharya Narendra Dev College, Giri Nagar, DITE, Okhla, Meera Bai Polytechnic Institute Maharani Bagh, Saint Paul School, Aurobindo College, Kendriya Vidyalaya R K Puram, Delhi School of Pharmacy, Lata Devi Institute of Management and several Delhi Government & SDMC Primary Schools located in Okhla, Jasola,Kalkaji, Madanpur Khadar, Rajokari Village, Aya Nagar, Sadh Nagar, Geetanjali Park, Tehra Village Kakrola, Dwarka, Najafgarh, Palam, East of Kailash, Modi Mill, Lajpat Nagar-1, Kotla Mubarakpur, R K Puram, etc are prominent.