Nellore, July 22: Potti Sri Ramulu Nellore district is not only famous for rice but also for mosquitoes. In fact, the hea-dquarters town, Nellore can be termed as a breeding centre for mosquitoes thanks to more than 10 irrigation canals and scores of open drains passing through it. In the absence of any maintenance, these have be-come cesspools with sew-age water and a natural production centre for mosquitoes. The worst hit are people living in Balaji Nagar, AC Nagar and NTR Nagar are-as. Large extents of agriculture land have been converted into residential areas and there is greater water stagnation in this area because most irrigation channels (now drainage canals) terminate here. The only action the fund starved corporation is taking is fogging in the streets during night once in two months and spraying chemicals in the open drains once in a while. The fogging exercise has been stopped since the last six months because of repairs to the machines. In this backdrop, health officials have adopted a new technique to contain the spread of mosquitoes. They have been directing the fog into closed drains during the day. The Nellore municipal corporation health officer, Dr Subba Raju, claims that the results are encouraging. "Mosquitoes are shy of sunlight, so they shift their base to closed drains and darker places during the day. The fog aimed at closed drains has been eliminating large volumes of mosquitoes. Feedback from public indicates that incidence has fallen," Dr Subba Raju said. He blamed residents of the town for throwing all kinds of garbage into open drains. He stressed that stagnant drains were responsible for the growth of mosquitoes. "As long us we do not learn civic sense, mosquitoes will remain," he asserted.