Mosquito menace in parts of Vasai West, Nallasopara reaches alarming proportions

VASAI, PALGHAR: According to several complaints by the residents of the city of Vasai, particularly the Vasai West region and the adjoining areas of Nallasopara seem to be in the grip of a mosquito menace that has suddenly spiralled as the monsoons draw near.

The Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) is blind to the flying menace and several calls to the concerned departments went unanswered. No health department official was willing to speak on the issue and the answer was ‘no comments please’ when this reporter approached various officials.

A senior VVMC official who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity, admitted that certain spots were facing an increasing mosquito menace due to the changes in the weather and the approach of the monsoon season, but denied that the problem had reached alarming proportions.

However Vasaikars are not amused and took to social media platforms to complain about the menace. There were several posts by local activists regarding the mosquito problems both in Vasai West as well as in Nallasopara.

The problem is caused by the Culex strain of mosquito, which breeds rapidly in stagnant water in wells, drying ponds, nullahs and in accumulating sewage waste and even in small patches of water like gardening pots, plant pots and similar implements.

Residents have complained that this summer, the mosquitoes are resilient to common pest control measures and are not controlled by several easily available mosquito repellents. According to an estate agent Dominic Pereira of Papdy, his young kids are unable to sleep as the mosquito repellents are not working.

Actor Pearl Angel D’souza whose family lives in the Giriz locality of Vasai West has a similar complaint – she was brutally bitten by mosquitoes who were not at all affected by popular home pest control or mosquito repellents during the few days she spent in Giriz.

Yet another Vasaikar – housewife Sunita Ingale of Holi said she has to use at least three different mosquito repellents to enable her kids to get sleep. “There is load-shedding and there are power outages in the area. It is impossible to get sleep at night due to the mosquitoes and the problem is greatly increased when the power goes off,” Ingale said.