Call for help: A group of labourers has organised a protest on Wednesday and also appealed for funds from residents for vector control operations. | Photo Credit: M_Karunakaran more-in Public health issues in the city are likely to intensify as Chennai Corporation has reduced the number of labourers in the public health department. As a result, the affected labourers have planned to hold a protest on Wednesday. “The number of malaria control workers has been reduced by 50% in many zones. The officials claim that the vector borne diseases will reduce in summer. But the reduction of labourers is affecting public health,” said an employee. Public health operations have reduced in many parts of the city. The decision to reduce the workers has been made in view of the severe fund crunch faced by the civic body. A group of labourers have organised a protest on Wednesday and have also appealed for funds from residents for vector control operations. “The Chennai Corporation has to hire more permanent workers, filling sanctioned posts. The private workers were managing the situation. Now, such workers who have the support of former councillors are retained. Those who joined duty earlier are denied an opportunity to work because they do not have the support of former councillors,” said a worker. A few years ago, the Chennai Corporation decided to hire private workers for vector control as part of its strategy to deal with the annual mosquito menace and the diseases it caused. Following a resolution by the Corporation Council in 2013, private malaria control workers were deployed in zones near the waterways, to cope with the rising mosquito menace. The workers were asked to carry out mosquito control operations, desilt drains, remove breeding sources and check the overhead tanks in houses. Waterways cleaned The civic body has spent crores of rupees cleaning the waterways, including the Adyar River, Cooum River and the Buckingham Canal in a bid to control mosquito breeding. Officials said mosquito breeding has reduced, leading to a reduction in the adult density of mosquitoes.

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