About 15,000 people living at Manjarainagar in Mundhwa are stung by the mosquito menace.
The rampant growth of water hyacinth, an aquatic plant that is highly invasive and commonly considered as the worst weed in the world, in the Mula-Mutha is the main reason for the problem.
Residents of the housing societies of Manjarainagar near Keshavnagar are fearing spread of mosquito-borne diseases and have decided to stage a demonstration if the hyacinth is not removed at the earliest.
“The hyacinth that is being pushed from the city areas flows downs and gets accumulated in the river near Mundhwa and Manjari Budruk. People living in housing societies on both sides of the river are badly affected,” said Rajendra Salve, president of the Akhil Manjarainagar Citizens Forum and Action Committee.
Incidentally, members associated with the forum staged a sit-in near the river by covering themselves with mosquito nets to take up the issue with the authorities. However, the demonstration on April 27 did not catch the civic administration’s attention.
“The officials had promised to remove the hyacinth. But nothing has happened so far. We will wait for a few more days to see the results. We will have to intensify our agitation if the administration fails to remove the weed,” Salve said.
Housing societies along both sides of the river flowing under the Mundhwa bridge are facing the mosquito menace. Besides Manjarainagar, people living in Keshavnagar, Mundhwa, Sharadnagar, Hanumannagar, Jaygangangar, Kodrenagar and Raghob Patilnagar are also affected. Among the worst hit are people living in Rajiv Gandhinagar, Satvainagar, Kunjirvasti and Malwadi, Salve said.
The mosquito species that are mainly troubling citizens living along the rivers and lakes with high hyacinth growth are Armigeres and Culex. Entomologists blame the rampant growth of water hyacinth in the rivers for the breeding of the two types of mosquitoes. The larvae of Armigerous and Culex grow in pools with dirty water or high organic content.
“There is a definite rise in the density of both the mosquito species along the rivers and lakes with hyacinth. Armigeres is a non-disease transmitting mosquito, but its bites are painful. The bites can cause small red welts on a child’s skin, besides the usual itching,” said Mukund Deshpande, an entomologist in the health department.
“As for Culex, it is a vector for filaria. We have asked health officials of the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic bodies to take measures in areas with hyacinth growth to curb the mosquito breeding,” he added.
The water hyacinth provides an ideal setting for both mosquito species to breed. “They breed and lay eggs in the gaps between the hyacinth. The gaps are created when the weed grows in weight and leads to water stagnation,” Deshpande said.
Vaishali Jadhav, assistant medical officer of health in the Pune Municipal Corporation said, “We have already initiated the work to remove the weed. The problem will be resolved soon.”
Apart from Manjarainagar, people living in Bopodi-Aundh and Wakadewadi are also a hassled lot because of the mosquito menace. Here too, the root cause of the problem is similar — the Mula flowing through the Bopodi-Aundh area is covered with water hyacinth.
In Pimpri Chinchwad, people living in areas along the banks of the Pavana and Indrayani rivers are also complaining about the rise in mosquitoes because of the spread of water hyacinth. They too want removal of the weed.
Source : TOI
