Councillors stage protest against mosquito menace in Kochi
The Hindu
The councillors alleged that the civic body failed to effectively curb the menace
United Democratic Front (UDF) councillors staged a protest meeting before the Kochi Corporation office on Monday inside mosquito nets against what they termed as the inaction of the civic administration against the pest menace.
The councillors alleged that the civic body failed to effectively curb the menace. The civic administration should have deployed more men and provided the required infrastructure facilities including fogging machines and larvicides for controlling the pest population. However, the Kochi Mayor tried to cover up the failure of the civic body by stating that the mosquito population usually goes up during winter months, they alleged.
Antony Kureethara, the leader of the Congress in the council, inaugurated the protest meeting, while Congress councillor M.G. Aristotle presided.
Responding to the developments, T.K. Ashraf, the chairman of the Health Standing committee of the Kochi Corporation, said the civic body has initiated the process of decentralised fogging in the city, which, according to him, had started delivering good results.
The civic body is trying de-centralised pest control measures in place of the earlier centralised operations. This time, fogging operations will be guided by division councillors. Sufficient funds have been released for the fogging operations, he said.