Sri Lanka has recorded over 27,000 cases of dengue and nine deaths for this year amidst a festering problem of solid waste management. Mosquito-borne diseases like dengue can spread rapidly in unhygienic environments where fresh water stagnates in discarded receptacles, as well as in brackish water, a problem worsened by the recent monsoon rains that have flooded lowland areas near the West coast of the country. Human incursions have eaten into the former wetlands and marshes that dotted Colombo and its suburbs, also diminishing wildlife that can keep mosquito populations down by eating mosquito larvae.

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