Mosquito control in Nellore's dengue season: what actually works at home

If you want fewer mosquitoes in your house during Nellore's dengue season, the single most effective thing is also the cheapest: walk around your home once a week and tip out every bit of standing water. The mosquito that the health department warns about in these months breeds in clean, still water in small containers, close to people — not mainly in the big drain down the road. Fogging, coils and a ULV spray deal with the adults flying tonight. Only removing the water deals with next week's.

The weekly water audit

Do this on the same day each week from the first rains in October until the ground dries in January, and after any heavy shower in between. Each item takes a few seconds.

• Fridge drip tray at the back, at the bottom. Most people have never looked. Empty and wipe.
• AC drain — the bucket under a window AC, or the pipe outlet of a split unit that drips onto a ledge. Make sure it drains away, not into a puddle.
• Flower pot saucers, money-plant bottles, the tulsi pot tray. Empty the saucers; change the bottle water twice a week.
• Overhead and sump tanks. Is the lid on? A cracked or missing lid on a tank that is never fully emptied is a breeding site the size of a room.
• Terrace: old tyres, paint tins, a tarpaulin with a sag in it, the blocked rainwater outlet with two inches of water behind it.
• Coolers left filled after summer. Drain and dry, or change the water weekly if you still use one.
• Bathroom: the bucket kept half-full, the drain that gurgles and holds water, the unused commode in a spare bathroom — flush it weekly.
• Outside the compound wall: coconut shells, plastic cups, the curved tile that catches rain. Ten minutes with a bag.

Anything you cannot empty — a sump, an open drain, a pond — is where larvicide goes, not where you give up.

Why Nellore is a hard case

The north-east monsoon is not a few showers. From October through December heavy rain refills every container within hours of your emptying it, and the humidity means nothing dries in between. Low-lying areas and those near canals and the coast sit with waterlogging for days. Tanks are over-filled because of power-cut anxiety, so they overflow onto the terrace. Each of these is a breeding site that is new every week, which is why a single visit in October does not cover you until January.

What the treatment actually does

A home mosquito treatment on our rate card is ₹999 and has two parts, and both matter.

ULV spray. A cold fogger puts out a very fine mist that hangs in the air and reaches the places adult mosquitoes rest during the day: under the bed, behind the wardrobe, the back of curtains, the bathroom ceiling corners, under the sink. This is what gives you the quiet nights immediately after the visit.

Larvicide. The technician doses the standing water you cannot drain — the sump, the open tank, the floor drains, the garden pots you want to keep. This stops the larvae already in that water from becoming adults, and lasts for weeks. Without it, the spray buys you about a week.

Ask for both. A visit that is only a fog in the living room is not a mosquito treatment.

Before and after the visit

Before: cover food and the water filter, put away children's toys and pet bowls, and close windows so the mist stays inside for the half hour it needs. After: keep the house closed for the time the technician tells you, then open up and ventilate well. Keep children and pets out until the floor is dry. Do not mop the same day.

What does not work, and what helps a little

Fast-release coils, liquid vaporisers and sprays repel or kill adults in one room for one night. They are fine for sleeping, but they are not control. Ultrasonic plug-ins do nothing measurable. A fitted window mesh, a fan at night (mosquitoes are weak fliers), and a mosquito net for a child's bed are worth more than any gadget.

When to call

If you are still finding wrigglers in your tank or drain a week after a thorough audit, if the building's sump is open and not yours to fix, or if evenings are unbearable despite a clean compound, that is when a spray-plus-larvicide visit earns its ₹999. In a building, one flat treating alone helps a little; the society treating the sump, the stairwell drains and the terrace together helps a lot.