Girls from Tamil Nadu uses old tyres to make mosquito nets.
Tamil Nadu Girl Makes DIY Mosquito Traps
People in India may not have understood that old car tyres could be an effective and simple method to keep away flies and destroy the eggs that could transmit viruses of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, and zika.
Making an effective use of the old car tyres, nine-year old Indira Arjun from Kalpakkam town in southern Tamil Nadu has come up with a simple and easy method of homemade nets for insects by using the concept of ‘Ovillantas‘.
As compared to any other mosquito trap method, studies have reportedly found that Ovillantas can destroy up to seven times more flies than any other traps or even repellents.
In a video posted on YouTube, Indira can be seen explaining all that is required to make the trap including a 13-inch old tyre, 1 hanger, a 1-inch PVC pipe, silicone glue, a ball valve, PVC glue, filter paper and a bottle filled with water.
She shows how the tyre is cut into two halves to make a trough filled with water. Next, a valve to release the solution is placed at the base of the trap, which will make it easier to drain and filter the device.
The homemade mosquito trap can be easily hung on walls or even in outdoor spaces like the gardens. After a couple of days, when the insects get stuck inside the structure, the valve can be utilised to drain out the water, flushing out the flies and their eggs along with it in a chlorine solution.
Ovillanta, a combination of Latin and Spanish words, is basically an eco-friendly mosquito trap that is made from a recycled car tyre.
According to reports, the concept was first invented by Gerard Ulibarri, a chemistry professor at Laurentian University in Ontario by accident while working on a project involving mosquito traps to tackle the West Nile virus that broke in the 2000s.