Bacteria weapon in mosquito battle

The New Town Development Authority has started spraying the biological insecticide containing the bacteria called 'bacillus thuringiensis israelensis' (BTI) in the waterbodies of Rajarhat New Town to control breeding of mosquitoes and destroy the existing larvae, said NKDA and Hidco chairman Debashis Sen.

It was in April this year that the NKDA authorities had commissioned a study by a professor of zoology of Burdwan University for suggesting ways to check mosquito breeding. After field trials and surveys in the area, a set of recommendations was given as to how the mosquito menace in Rajarhat New Town could be tackled. The recommendation consisted of short and long-term solutions. The long-term actions included the use of BTI as a biological insecticide.

The report submitted had specifically mentioned that spraying mosquito larvaecidal agents like BTI, which is a naturally-occurring bacteria that kills mosquito larvae, is a very effective solution to control mosquitoes from breeding. These bacteria kills only mosquitoes, fungus gnats and blackflies and does not harm other insects or fish.

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