Bio-environmental control of malaria in an industrial complex at Hardwar (U.P.), India

A study on the bio-environmental control of industrial malaria was launched at Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd., the country's foremost industrial complex. Malaria was a serious problem on the campus of the complex and routine methods of malaria control by providing screened doors, larviciding, fogging, limited spraying in the unauthorized colonies and chemotherapy were not effective. The project staff diverted the existing resources to reduce mosquito breeding sites by using fly ash to fill low lying areas, borrow pits and ditches, etc.; cleaning blocked drains and improving drainage by constructing cemented drains, mosquito-proofing overhead water storage tanks, improving surveillance and chemotherapy and introducing developmental schemes to make it a holistic process. The entire campus was brought under the alternate strategy during a 5 month period. In less than one year indigenous transmission was interrupted and the areas brought under maintenance at a cost of US +28,000. The study showed that in this instance malaria control should first be based on source reduction rather than insecticidal methods.