Mumbai: Builder, BMC inaction on mosquito breeding spot lands teen in hospital

Due to a glitch in the buildingrsquos drainage system the septic tank has been overflowing on the ground floor and has now turned into a breeding ground for mosquitoesIf you think that the occurrence of dengue is most common in the slums think again An employee of a multinational company bought a flat worth Rs 70 lakh in the posh Evershine Meadows in Mahim East six months ago But due to the negligence of the builders and bureaucratic apathy of the BMC and police his only son has fallen prey to dengueAmit Raorsquos 16yearold son Jayraj was admitted to the Raheja Hospital on Saturday after he complained of severe body pain and high fever Blood reports on Sunday confirmed he has contracted dengue Amit knew this was waiting to happen to someone or the other in his housing societyAmit and a hundred other residents of the Evershine Meadows have had sewage problems for the past two months Due to a faulty drainage system dirty water from the septic tank keeps overflowing and getting accumulated on the ground floorBreeding groundsThese water patches have now turned into mosquito breeding grounds Taking proactive action the society approached the builder in October to solve the issue before anyone fell victim to dengue But no one paid any heed In November they filed a complaint with BMC and police Even then no one came to help themldquoI filed complaints everywhere to stop the nuisance But no one took any step The floor gets filled with dirty water that sinks so much and due to regular accumulation it has turned into a mosquito breeding ground Now my son has fallen prey to dengue and Irsquod feared the same thing I moved into the flat six months ago but never thought Irsquoll face such harassment at the hands of the authoritiesrdquo said Amit adding ldquoI was fighting to prevent the society from contracting dengue but never imagined my son will fall prey to itrdquoApproached cops tooEjaz Naqvi an advocate and resident of the society says they asked the police to intervene and take action against the builders but nothing came of it ldquoFor months we have been lodging complaints in various departments of the BMC asking them to look into the matter but no one paid any heed We also approached police at Shahu Nagar police station who could intervene into the matter under Sections 261 and 268 of the Indian Penal Code Under the sections the police can intercept anyone if they are found guilty of public nuisance that can cause injury or pose any danger But nothing was donerdquo he saidBMC inactionAs per BMC rules any person can complain to the authority if they find any mosquito breeding grounds in their residential area After receiving a complaint BMC generally sends their insecticide officer to check the area and conduct all required precautionary activities to curb the spread of dengue But even after complaining several times to the health department no one came to inspect the arealdquoNo officer came to inspect the breeding grounds despite complaints No one spread bleaching powder or came for fogging And because of them my son is in the hospitalrdquo said AmitlsquoNo commentrsquoWhen midday spoke to Ram Ludhani chief promoter of the brand that constructed the building he said ldquoI wonrsquot be able to comment on it I am sick so I need to restrdquo Despite repeated tries the buildingrsquos administrative director Robert did not respond to several messages sent by middayNarshibhai Patel responsible of the maintenance of the flats accepted that due to faulty sewage system the water from the safety tank below the floor is coming out on the ground ldquoWe are planning to revamp the sewage system and will uplift it with a better one but we need to two more weeks to do so We are working on itrdquo said PatelBMC saysDespite repeated calls Dr Rajan Naringrekar insecticide officer at BMC did not respond to the calls made by midday Dr Padmaja Kesker health officer of BMC asked to be contacted later but calls to her went unanswered as well