CALGARY HERALD (Alberta) 22 June 07 Hungry frogs wanted to fight dengue fever (Times of London)
Thousands of frogs could be shipped into the Indian capital as part of a government drive to prevent a severe outbreak of the mosquito-borne dengue fever after the monsoon rains.
City authorities are considering paying farmers in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to catch mosquito-guzzling frogs, to be introduced to the 500-odd lakes, ponds, canals and rivers in Delhi. Environmental activists say that the government must first clean up the city's water bodies, especially the Yamuna River, which has become a vast open sewer despite being revered by Hindus.
Delhi used to be teeming with frogs, which fed on the larvae of mosquitoes and other insects, thus curbing the spread of dengue, malaria, encephalitis and similar mosquito-borne diseases.
Over 20 years the frog population has all but disappeared because of severe pollution of water bodies, especially the Yamuna, with pesticides, raw sewage and industrial effluents.
"At the first sign of rain the whole river used to be croaking," said Mike Pandey, a prominent conservationist and filmmaker, who has been monitoring the frog population since 1982.
"The river has gone from being crystal blue to a huge sewage canal full of chemicals. That's why the frogs have disappeared. And with the predators gone, the mosquitoes proliferate."
With other predators such as spiders, fish and birds also on the wane, the number of mosquitoes has exploded, according to a recent study by the National Institute of Malaria Research.