Mizoram: Mosquito the biggest killer

Once ravaged by insurgency, Mizoram is now the most peaceful state in the Northeast.

But a new menace is disturbing the people and the state government there, and it is not a band of gun-totting youth but the tiny mosquito that is causing a major headache.

Malaria was the biggest killer in the state last year, killing as many as 119 people. It is not that funds have not been forthcoming from the Central government.

Mizoram government received over Rs 400 lakh just for malaria control in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

And, while it was declared a high-risk area for malaria in 1996, an intensive awareness campaign across the state is yet to catch up.