Delhi: 8 teams to keep G20 Summit venue mosquito free
The officials said that these teams will detect and destroy mosquito larvae, and will carry out periodic fogging drives
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has deployed eight teams to ensure that Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan, the main venue of the upcoming G20 Summit, is kept free of mosquitoes during the event, officials said on Tuesday.
The officials said that these teams will detect and destroy mosquito larvae, and will carry out periodic fogging drives across the 123-acre Pragati Maidan complex.
A senior MCD official said that the newly developed Bharat Mandapam has multiple water features, along with a basement and parking areas, which are being checked daily for mosquito larvae. “Eight domestic breeding checkers and field workers have been tasked to keep the entire venue under check. Security passes have been generated for them and they are undertaking daily drives to check potential mosquito breeding sites,” the official said, on condition of anonymity.
A second MCD official said that the G20 team is headed by the district health officer of the central zone, who is submitting daily reports. “Since this is a high-security zone, we have set up a dedicated depot inside the complex to store enough larvicides and anti-mosquito insecticides such as cyphenothrin, along with fogging machines for the next 15 days,” the official said.
The second official quoted above said the civic body has also introduced larvae-eating fish in the water bodies in the region, including at Rajghat and the Purana Qila lake. “Gambusia affinis have been introduced at 180 locations in comparison to 110 and 129 sites in the last two years. These tiny fish consume mosquito larvae and act as a more eco-friendly method, reducing the dependency on chemicals.”
The fish have not been introduced inside the Pragati Maidan complex as they would not survive in fountains.
Earlier this month, MCD stopped releasing its weekly mosquito-borne disease report, which highlights the number of dengue and malaria cases in the city. The last update was on August 7, for the weekly cycle ending on August 5. The move to stop the release of the report is significant as the practice continued uninterrupted even during the pandemic.
