Even as the overall cases of malaria have come down in the Indore division by 20% this year, there are three districts (Indore, Khargone and Burhanpur) where the cases have gone up as compared to last year. The health department has also warned against the rise in the cases till December following the inflow of migrants during festive season. "We are expecting nearly 4.5 lakh people to visit the Indore division till December. Most of these are the inhabitants who have migrated to Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra for work. These people often get infection and hence we expect the cases to rise," said joint director health services Dr Sharad Pandit.

He added that the health workers have been asked to take blood samples of all these visitors who complain of fever and have symptoms of malaria.

Indore has seen an 8% rise in the number of malaria cases from January to October. Khargone, which witnessed 2,150 cases last year, has had 2,228 cases this year. Burhanpur saw a threefold rise in the cases with 627 cases.

To control the mosquito population, the health department is now promoting the biological method. "There are government fish hatcheries for 'gambusia', a fish that eats these larvae and clears the water. This is the best method as compared to the other chemical treatments," said Dr Pandit, adding that the chief medical and health officers and the members of the village health and sanitation committee have beep asked to adopt this method.

"We are treating the water bodies. There are 2 crore 17 lakh tablets of chloroquine with us. The health workers do a preliminary test using the raid diagnostic kit which helps in detecting the cases early," said zonal entomologist CS Sharma.

With the help of Centre the health department has also distributed the insecticide mosquito nets in the districts of Alirajpur and Dhar.