So far 68 persons have died in the State of malaria, said Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the State Assembly here today. The Minister, who was replying to questions from Dr Aditya Langthasa (AUDF) and Dr Rumi Nath (BJP), asserted that the number of malaria-related death in the State had come down drastically this year. Till July 18 last year, the disease took a toll of 137 to 138 human lives, he said. The Minister refused to accept the assertion of both the legislators that this vector-borne disease was offering resistance to a number of drugs. The State Government has no report of such resistance. It has only the reports of the disease resisting chloroquin in some pockets of Karbi Anglong, he said. He informed the House in reply to a supplementary question from Dr Alaka Sarma (AGP) that the Health Department had been in touch with the Department of Fisheries for hiring six hatcheries to grow the species of fish that helps controlling the disease. He attributed the decrease in the number of malaria-related death cases in the neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya this year to the common anti-malaria drive launched by the Government of India in the NE region. The drive has been launched in response to a plea made by Assam Government, he informed. In reply to a suggestion made by Drupad Bargohain (CPI) he apprised the House of the fact that the Union Government had advised spraying of DDT only in the high malaria incidence areas. The State Government is now laying more stress on distribution of medicated mosquito nets to check spread of the disease, he said.