Mosquito infestation

Many of us have seen humans inside nets to save themselves from the nuisance-creating and harmful mosquitoes but not even few have ever seen animals being kept inside nets to protect them from the menace of mosquitoes. This newspaper has carried a picture showing both humans and animals inside one net in lower Sindh to protect themselves and their precious livestock from mosquito bites. A report carried with the picture says mosquitoes have multiplied exponentially in the aftermath of recent rains.

This year, unusually big-size mosquitoes have infested the rain-affected areas and regions close to them. Area residents say this year mosquitoes have become a menace not only for humans causing malaria and dengue, they are killing their cattle as well. Their homes and crops have been washed away by the floods and they are now left only with their livestock on which they are banking to get a living, so they are trying to protect them as best as they can. The situation is so bad and vexatious that they cannot step out of their nets after sunset.

Fumigation has been stopped when it is needed most. There are no medical camps in affected areas either, and the residents — left at the mercy of these dangerous insects — spend the whole night scratching their mosquito bites. As aptly pointed out by a local activist, people in flood-affected areas need mosquito nets more than food rations.

According to a senior official of Mirpurkhas division, fumigation halted after the tenure of local governments had ended last week. Local government employees have stopped working after the end of local governments’ term, and this is seriously hindering rehabilitation work in flood-hit areas. Many locals are of the view — and quite rightly so — that fumigation is not enough to combat the mosquito menace; draining away of rainwater is the only effective solution, for the problem with mosquitoes is that, swatted away from one place they invade other places. These mosquitoes are so stubborn that anti-repellants and suchlike things are ineffective against them.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, Septe0mber 13^th, 2020.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.