In a philanthropic gesture, to contain the spread of dengue in D. Salundi, Kalpavruksha Trust in association with Rajashekar Medical Foundation has decided to distribute ‘Guppy’ fish and the needed concrete containers free of cost to residents of the dengue-hit D. Salundi village.

Disclosing this at press meet at Patrharkarthara Bhavan here yesterday, Chairman of the Trust Dr. H.B. Rajashekar said “Dengue has taken away lives of few children in the village and several kids and adults were getting admitted to hospitals. The ‘Guppy’ species of fish feed on the larvae that spreads dengue and thereby helps in containing the spread of the disease.”

Dr. Rajashekar said that “the Guppy fish will be procured from breeder K. Somashekar Gowda, a native of Karwar who has a furniture business in city. He has been breeding the fish on a large scale in Karwar. The fish feeds on any type of mosquito and its life span is 3 years. The reproduction capacity is pretty high, 3,000 fish per year by a pair.”

Dr. Rajashekar said that the Trust would distribute 10 pairs of fish (each pair costs Rs. 20) to each household free of cost along with a concrete container to breed the fish. He added that no special food need be offered to the fish as they can survive on the algae grown on the inner walls of the container for 3 years.

He appealed to MCC and MUDA authorities to make it mandatory for every new house to build a cement tank to breed Guppy fish as a preventive measure.

Courtesy : Star Of Mysore