Jamshedpur: Security personnel deployed in the interior areas of the Saranda forest in West Singhbhum district to neutralise the Maoists are fighting mosquitoes as well. A total of nine CoBRA jawans of different battalions have reportedly been diagnosed as suffering from malaria in the past six days. Of them, jawan of 197 Battalion, Anand Singh (44) died at a private hospital in Ranchi while another jawan of 205 Battalion, Anil Biswal, was airlifted to the same hospital on Saturday.Suffering from high fever, chills, and vomiting, Biswal collapsed on the airstrip while CRPF special director general (SDG) Deepak Kumar was briefing media about the anti-Naxal operations in the region. The SDG asked the commandants to take precautionary measures to prevent the forces from contracting vector-borne diseases.The Saranda forest, which is spread over 805 square km, is one of the biggest forests consisting of saal trees in the country. These rain-fed forests are the perfect breeding grounds of female anopheles mosquitoes, which carry the disease. A total of 56 villages are located in the Saranda forest area. Out of these, around 20 regularly report malaria cases. In 2024, the district had reported 9,000 cases.West Singhbhum superintendent of police (SP) Amit Renu said, “Poor living conditions in the hilly terrain of Saranda are the primary cause of malaria. Anti-malaria kits have been distributed among the jawans. The paramilitary force has augmented the supplies of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, repellents and anti-malaria pills in the camps, and the jawans have been advised to wear full-sleeved clothes to avert the risk of mosquito bites. Besides, every battalion has a team of doctors and paramedical staff to take care of the personnel.”A CoBRA jawan had died while 50 other security personnel were hospitalised after contracting malaria in 2011. A total of 200 jawans were diagnosed with malaria in 2012, the highest so far in the district.
