Fish is new weapon in fight against dengue

Coimbatore: Sanitary workers of the city corporation are rearing gambusia and guppy, renowned for their ability to eat large numbers of mosquito larvae, at the ward office on 80-feet Road near Ramanathapuram. When reared in storage containers and water tanks, the fish eat up the aedes mosquito larvae, said Shankar, a corporation sanitary worker. The workers have deposited the fish in nearly 30 households in the area.

The larvivorous fish varieties feed on mosquito eggs and larvae. According to city health officer K Santhosh Kumar, the fish were reared by the entomology department attached to the office of the deputy director, health, Kulandaisamy, on Race Course. "These fish only need clean water to survive. They will eat up the larvae and eggs laid by mosquitoes and insects, especially the ones laid by aedes mosquito," he said.

The corporation has trained sanitary workers on how to maintain the fish. As they visit more than 150 homes a day, it is easy for the workers to find out which house requires the fish. They even ask the house owners if they would be willing to rear the fish in water storage containers.This is one of the best ways of fighting dengue, as the work becomes easier, he added.

G Radha, a 50-year-old resident at Bharathinagar Main Road, said she had deposited the fish in large containers used to store water. "The fish eat mosquito larvae and make sure that the containers remain clean. We have deposited the fish in containers, from where we draw water for washing and bathing," she told TOI.

Santhosh Kumar said that in the past one year, nearly 5,000 fish were given to residents. "We maintain a hatchery at Race Course," he said.

Those interested in rearing the fish can get them from the hatchery free of cost. "They need to ensure that the water is clean and whenever baby fish are born, they need to be shifted to other tanks," he said.

The fish should be kept only in portable containers and not in underground tanks, the official added.