BMC mulling action over 'defaulter' navy & army

Civic body claims none of the four major land-owning authorities, including MMRDA & MSEB, have started work on eradicating mosquito dens yet, but they insist it is on

The civic body is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to eradicating mosquito-breeding sites in the city. The insecticide department of the BMC is now mulling prosecuting government land-owning authorities that have not yet started the work on making their premises free of the malaria menace. The BMC has identified four major land-owning authorities ufffd army, navy, MMRDA, Maharashtra State Electricity Boardu00a0-- who, according to the insecticide department, have not done any work for vector control, increasing the risk of malaria outbreak.


Sting operation: The BMC had set an April 30 deadline to eliminate
mosquitoe breeding grounds from the city. Representation Pic

On May 11, MiD DAY had reported how BMC was gearing up to nip the menace in the bud by asking major government land-owning bodies to destroy all potential mosquito-breeding dens within the city limits. Dr Arun Bamne, chief insecticide officer, BMC, said, "Our officers are regularly inspecting the premises of all the land-owning bodies under the BMC's land limits. We have been requesting the authorities concerned to step up their work. The army, navy, MMRDA and MSEB have not begun the work yet. We have intimated them to start the work at the earliest in order to arrest the rampant breeding of mosquitoes. There are leakages and, at certain places, there are no mosquito-proof water tanks."

Apart from the mosquito-proof tanks, the civic body wants the immediate removal of unused articles from the premises which can serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The first meeting with the major land-owning authorities was held on April 11. "All the authorities were given a detailed report of the areasu00a0 they needed to work on. The deadline for completing the work was April 30, but the land-owning bodies have done little to contain the malaria menace," said a senior BMC official. The insecticide department inspected the mosquito-prone sites and submitted a report on May 2.

"The monsoon is approaching, so the authorities working to make their premises malaria free need to pace up the drive. There is a provision in the BMC Act, under Sections 381 and 381(A), which allows the civic body to prosecute anyone causing stagnation of water and subsequent breeding of mosquitoes. We may have to initiate prosecution if the work is not started with immediate effect," added Bamne.

The land-owning authorities, however, claimed that they were taking all necessary actions to destroy the breeding grounds. Dilip Kawatkar, joint project director, MMRDA, said, "We are taking all possible measures and are even providing mosquito nets to the labourers working on our construction sites. We have also asked the contractor to not allow stagnation of water on the construction sites of metro and monorail projects."

Kishore Shegokar, superintendent engineer, MSEB, agreed. "Our major projects are in progress in Kanjurmarg Bhandup and Mulund areas and we have intimated all our officers to get rid of any scrap materials lying on the premises. The civic body had asked us to plug the leakage in the Nirmal lifestyle and Lok Everest sub stations and we have compiled to it. If they point out faults in any other place, we are ready to start the work," he said. Defence spokesperson, Captain Manohar Nambhiar, said, "We already have a system in place and all malaria control activities are being undertaken regularly."

Malaria menace