It seems almost impossible for an entire village which was previously infested by mosquitoes to be free of them within two breeding sessions. But Sansar did it!

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A village in the Pune district has become completely mosquito free!

Yes, you read that right. A joint effort by the Health Department of the Pune Municipal Corporation, and the residents of Sansar, a village located in the Indapur taluka of Pune, has achieved the impossible, and soon, its model will be recreated in other parts of the district as well.

The project was initiated about two years ago, in 2016, by the health department, which also ensured that every villager—young and old—got to participate.

Speaking to Pune Mirror, PS Pathak, a social worker said, “We have stressed more on communication and forming groups to educate the masses. Several campaigns were held in schools and kids were informed about the issue.

After conducting drawing competition of mosquito larva and breeding spots, they can now easily identify the problem.”

Drawing and essay competitions related to mosquitoes helped the children identify breeding spots and larvae. Thus, they could easily spot danger zones and work to eliminate them.

Pushkraj Nimbalkar, a resident of Sansar, said, “Everyone in the village is trained and educated to identify breeding spots and ways to eliminate them. A team is divided into a group of 15 people, and they all go and supervise different areas. While some of them look for breeding spots and check containers, others educate the elderly.”

Along with this, the health department made sure that the waste generated in the village is managed in a sustainable manner, to not allow for any still water bodies to work as breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

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They also revamped the drainage systems, installing nets over the pipes to block the entrance.

Public water sources were also concealed. This, along with regular inspections by citizen inspectors, who checked for breeding spots and destroyed them, helped break the breeding cycle of the insects in the village.

The results speak for themselves. According to Dr Dilip Mane, a Pune district health officer, there are absolutely no mosquitoes or larvae recorded in the house index, container index, Breteau index (the number of positive containers per 100 inspected houses) and Pupae index (number of pupae per 100 inspected houses).

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Earlier, villages in Aurangabad and Medak (Telangana) also declared a mosquito free.

It seems almost impossible for an entire village which was previously infested by mosquitoes to be free of them within two breeding sessions. While it will be challenging to implement this initiative on a district level, it is undoubtedly a great idea, and we are sure that citizens wouldn’t mind working together to get rid of these pesky insects!

(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)

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