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" streams, ponds, ditches and puddles are dangerous. These facts have a
" considerable bearing upon the problem of Malaria prevention in Bombay.
"It appears to me that organized and systematic mosquito destruction
" will afford a means of controlling the disease within definite limits, and
" provided it is carried out with due care, should reduce the liability to
" epidemic manifestations or even entirely prevent their occurrence. It
" must not be supposed that the task of mosquito destruction to an extent
" sufficient to actually control Malaria, will be an easy one. But given a
" proper staff and organization, adequate powers, and sufficient expenditure
" and I believe it will be quite possible to obtain the desired results.
" I wish to make it clear from the outset that in my opinion in order to
" deal with the matter effectively it will be necessary to create a Special
" Department engaged solely in mosquito destruction, and working under
" the control of the Executive Health Officer. Such a Department must
" be a permanent one and must possess a small regular staff of skilled men
" whose sole duty all the year round must be anti-mosquito work. In
"addition, arrangements must be made for increasing the staff by the
" addition of unskilled men during the period between the outset of the
" rains and the complete establishment of the dry season. In this short
" memorandum it is impossible to go into details, which will require
" careful discussion. But I would suggest as a tentative measure that
" steps be taken to organize such a Department for immediate work in
" Wards A. and B. and possibly Walkeshwar with a view to subsequently
" extending operations over the whole southern portion of the City south
" of a line drawn between Kasara Basin, Mazagon, and Mahaluxmi Battery,
" and possibly in other parts of the Island. Briefly, I would suggest that
" the area in which operations are to be commenced should be divided into
" sections, of a size to allow of each being inspected thoroughly by a
" responsible officer at weekly intervals. Each one of these sections must
" be sub-divided and put in charge of a trained muccadum who must
" control one to three or four men. Large sized plans must be prepared of
" each section and sub-section, wherein all possible breeding places must
" be plainly marked and every place in which mosquito larvæ have been
" found must be indicated. In addition, section and sub-section registers
" must be drawn up of every potential breeding place for mosquitoes and
" a diary or journal must be kept by each Inspector recording his visit to
" each sub-section and the result of his inspection. The whole staff must be
" made clearly to understand that their sole duty is to prevent mosquitoes
" breeding within the area under their charge. Reports must be made at
" stated intervals to the Executive Health Officer or the Officer specially
" deputed to control the Department. Failure to prevent the breeding
" of mosquitoes must be at once reported to head-quarters. Failure to
" prevent mosquitoes breeding or to report such failure and its reason
" should entail liability to dismissal. It will be clear that the areas under
" the control of each Inspector must not be made too large or there will be
" inadequate supervision which will result in certain failure. Further it
" must be pointed out that the whole question of mosquito destruction in
" a City such as Bombay presents a problem for the solution of which little
" assistance can be gained from examples of such work elsewhere. General
" principles only can be laid down to guide us in framing a workable
" scheme, and actual experiment in a limited area must be undertaken to
" determine the minimum staff necessary, the powers of control required
" and the probable expenditure that will be involved in order to attain
" success. It is for these reasons that I suggest that steps should be taken
" for the organization of a Special Department to work in a limited area in
" A. and B. Wards in connection with similar work to be carried out by
" the Port Trust and Railway Authorities. We must not lose sight of the
" fact that mosquito destruction must be carried on indefinitely, although
"there is little question but that it will become easier year by year.
" In this connexion it must be mentioned that the question of wells,
" public and private, has a special importance. In the North Fort, at
" Mazagon and at Colaba unguarded wells form the breeding places of large
" numbers of N. stephensi and unless adequate control of wells can be