Mumbai residents being engulfed in smoke as municipal employees intensified preventive measures such as anti-malaria fumigation and fogging at a slum in the Indian city yesterday.

The authorities have identified areas of the city with mills, railway yards and construction sites where accumulated water offers a breeding ground for mosquitoes, leading to a wider spread of malaria.

Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra state, is reportedly the worst-hit among Indian cities in the grip of a malaria outbreak in the pre-monsoon season, with over 1,000 cases this year, the Times of India said. Those living in urban areas are more badly affected.

Nevertheless, the situation has improved as Maharashtra saw more than 3,500 cases in the same period last year.