Mosquito menace stings dwellers as GHMC operations go for a toss

Hyderabad: The mosquito menace is making life miserable in the city. The recent heavy rain has led to overflowing sewage and clogged drains, creating ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes. There has been an increase in menace especially in the areas located near water bodies and open nalas.

Hyderabad is currently facing a severe mosquito menace, causing alarm across the city. Many residents have already fallen victim to mosquito bites, and are irate that they are facing the threat of illness caused by mosquitoes as the GHMC is delaying the anti-larval operations. Open nalas and garbage piles seen across the city are the main breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

There has been an increase in the mosquitoes due to the rise in temperatures and stench emanating from the water bodies. “Mosquitoes are not letting us sleep during the night. We filed several complaints with GHMC and even brought them to the notice of the local entomology wing but have not received any response. All our squealing falls on deaf ears,” rued Mohammed Ahmed, a resident of Himmatpura.

Various areas across the city including Tolichowki, Shaikpet, Langar Houz, Mallepally, Santosh Nagar, Malakpet Musheerabad, Rajendranagar, Goshamahal, and other areas like Begumpet, Alwal, Secunderabad, Lower Tank Bund road, Malkajgiri, Koti, Banjara Hills, Habsiguda, Kukatpally, Baghlingampally and various other areas in Old city are witnessing the menace.

Several complaints were registered online and offline with GHMC’s entomology wing regarding the increase in mosquitoes menace as people are having sleeping nights due to the buzzing of mosquitoes. However, they blame the lackadaisical attitude of the department and also pointed out that the sanitation department is not cleaning the garbage on time, which has also led to the mosquito menace.

K Venkatesh, a resident of Indiranagar in Jubilee Hills said, “With the recent unseasonal rains and heaps of garbage, the mosquitoes make us pay through the nose every day.”

Moreover, the menace has become the talk of the town with many taking to social media to vent their ire in the form of memes and jokes. “What is up with this mosquito menace. Over load of Machhara (mosquitoes) ruining sleep and peace,” wrote one Hyderabadi.

Ashfaq Ahmed wrote “Repellents like hit spray or All Out are ineffective. Parents have turned into tennis players swinging around mosquito bats all night.” According to the entomology wing, they have started anti-larval operations in various areas. They are doing the fogging in lakes, using drones and also started awareness campaigns.

Meanwhile, the GHMC has come up with a new digital feature ‘Fogging on request’ in ‘My GHMC’ app to help the citizens in learning more about mosquito menace.

Any citizen of Greater Hyderabad who is facing mosquito menace can login to My GHMC mobile app and request for fogging. This request will be received by an assistant entomologist and assigned to the area fogging worker. Once the request is attended by fogging in that area it gets resolved by uploading a photo with geo location.