24
SUPPLEMENT TO THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
reached the place on the evening of the 27th, and. as per the previous arrangement
of the District Medical Officer a camp laboratory was fixed up at the Medical
School. The following morning I interviewed the District Medical Officer in order
to find out from him the exact nature of the proposed enquiry. He directed me to
see the Engineer-in-Chief of the harbour works ; I saw the latter officer the same
day and discussed matters with him. I understood that the object of the survey
was shortly this :—In connexion with the proposed construction of a new harbour
in Vizagapatam, some of the villages on the other side of the backwater and close
to the proposed harbour have been acquired with a view to building quarters for
a large number of labourers. But as the locality has been reputed to be highly
malarious a survey was considered necessary.
Plan of work.—I decided to adopt the following plan of work :—
(1) To ascertain the distribution, amount and character of malaria in the
locality.
(2) To find out the particular species of anopheles which is concerned in
the transmission of the disease and to obtain a complete knowledge of its life
history in the locality.
(3) To study the special conditions in the environment that favour the
multiplication of the anopheles.
(4) To suggest measures for the improvement of the area with a view to
reducing malaria to a minimum.
Description of the place .—Vizagapatam (lat. 17.42° M. and long. 83.2° E.) lies
on the east coast of the Madras Presidency and is situated along the shore of a
small bay which forms part of the Bay of Bengal. It is 487 miles north-east of
Madras by rail and is bounded on the north by the Simhachalam range, on the
south by the Dolphin range, on the west by a “ group of hills standing like
pyramids on the fringe of the tidal swamp,” and on the east by the Bay of
Bengal. The two ranges of hills on the north and south not only act as lan
d - m a r k s t o V i z a g a p a t a m b u t a l s o a s g r o i n s t o p r o t e c t t h e l a n d a g a i n s t t h e c o n s t a n t
encroachments of the waves and currents. It is the presence of this natural
groin of Dolphin hills on the south and the extensive tidal swamp on the west,
connected with the sea by the salt water creek, that were the deciding factors of
the Vizagapatam harbour. The particular area with which the present enquiry
is mainly concerned is the narrow triangular strip of land that lies at the foot of
the Dolphin range on the southern side of the backwater and extends for about 4
to 5 miles to the west. It consists of Malakapuram Village with its four adjoi
n - i n g h a m l e t s , i . e . , T e p p a r e v u , C h i n t a l a p a l a m , V a l a k a m p e t a a n d D i b b a m i d i p a l e m .
This area is wedged in as it were between the Dolphin range and the swamp, and
is in no part more than a few furlongs wide. It is divided into two almost equal
halves by the Anakā palle road. The whole area is traversed by numerous tort
u - o u s l i t t l e s t r e a m s c a l l e d “ g e d d a s ” w h i c h a r i s e f r o m t h e D o l p h i n h i l l s a n d e m p t y
themselves into the swamp, the general slope of the land being towards the
swamp. The soil in this area may be said to be generally gravelly, except in
places quite close to the swamp, where it is sandy. The locality consists of
scrub jungle, a fair number of palmyra palms and coconut trees, and a few
mango and plantain topes. Over a very small area towards Dibbainidipalem,
cultivation of rice and ragi is carried on.
In. addition to these, three villages to the north, Gnanapuram, Tikkodipalem
and Venkata Jaggaravupet were also included in the survey. Ellampeta and
Achiampeta divisions of Vizagapatam Town situated quite close to and to the
east of the swamp were also inspected. Excepting that all these areas are more
or less very swampy, there is nothing specially worthy of note. The accompa
n y - i n g m a p ( M a p N o . I n o t r e p r o d u c e d . ) s h o w s t h e v i l l a g e s v i s i t e d a n d t h e i r r e l a t i v e
geographical positions.
Temperature.—No great variations in temperature are experienced. The
average maximum temperature recorded during the decade 1913 to 1922 was 87 F.
and. minimum temperature 75 F. The wettest part of the year is the middle of
September, and the driest the middle of December.