CWG gets moth-full

On the inaugural day of the Commonwealth Games, almost everyone was drawn to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium like a moth to light, literally.

On the inaugural day of the Commonwealth Games, almost everyone was drawn to the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium like a moth to light, literally.

Apart from the athletes, delegates and thousands of spectators, Sunday’s dazzling show attracted countless uninvited guests - moths - to the stadium.

HT Image

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), which has been busy catching dogs, cows and monkeys till date, has now been asked to take care of these moths as well.

The health department of the civic agency swung into action on Monday, after the venue administrator of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium requested them to drive away the insects.

To get rid of the moths, the civic body sprayed the stadium with ‘pyrethrum’, an insecticide.
“We were told by the venue administrator of Jawaharlal Nehru stadium that swarms of moth gathered inside the venue due to the light show besides the strong lighting in general. Spectators and performers faced a lot of problem due to this. As the stadium will remain lit up for a few more days, we were asked to spray a special chemical to kill moths,” said a senior MCD official.

The civic body started spraying insecticide in and around the venue early in the morning and continued till late evening on Monday.

According to MCD officials, a few other stadiums are also facing a similar problem and they will start spraying insecticide in those venues as well from Tuesday onwards.

“These moths gather around the lights during night and settle down in the area during the daytime and create trouble. The problem intensified on Monday morning. But now the situation is under control,” added the official.