Taking cognizance of The Pioneer’s report on the Agave Americana plant’s role in curbing vector-borne diseases, the lieutenant-Governor’s office on Wednesday summoned officials of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) health department and enquired about the larvicidal properties of the leaf and seed extracts of this plant.
The Horticulture Department has also been instructed to submit a detail report on the plants available in their nurseries to l-G Anil Baijal on Thursday.
According to sources, the possibility of growing Agave Americana in the sprawling gardens of the Raj Niwas to increase the number of plants was also discussed.
Recently, in a series of eco-friendly drives, the NMC had introduced several measures such as deploying mosquito larva eating Gambusia fish in 70 of Delhi’s rural water bodies, promoting dengue-free coolers and growing Agave Americana.
It may be noted that the leaf extract of Agave Americana has a larvicidal property and it kills mosquito larvae within hours of its leaves being cut into small pieces and put in coolers and containers in which water has collected.
Agave Americana, is basically a native of Mexico that is why it is also called the Mexican plant and is available everywhere easily.
last week, the corporation had introduced the concept of dengue-free coolers in all its zones, wherein the water tank of the cooler would be covered to prevent the entry of mosquitoes in it for laying eggs.
This would also curb vector-borne diseases in the Capital and owners of these coolers would not have to clean the water tank every week. Even if breeding takes place inside the cooler and the eggs somehow fall in the water tank, the mosquitoes can’t come out due to the cover over the water tank.
A report released by the Corporation on Tuesday revealed that 23 new cases of malaria had been reported this month, taking the total tally to 177 till July 8. Dengue cases have touched 109 and chikungunya cases stand at 161 in city.