Citizens maintaining conducive breeding environments within home premises is leading to alarming rise in the number of carrier mosquitoes
The monsoon has gone, but it has left a trail of rain-related ailments behind. Hospitals in the city have recorded a spurt in dengue cases, with five deaths recorded so far. Doctors have advised residents to exercise extra caution and ensure they drink clean water and avoid street food.
The Brihnamumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has served notices to 12,673 private properties for maintaining conducive breeding environments within their compounds. BMC data (from January till date) shows that residential areas maintain at least 92 per cent of the mosquito breeding grounds in the city. The civic authority has collected Rs 19.6 lakh fine from 740 premises till date.
BMC's additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Deshmukh said, “We have also served 983 notices to government premises and have collected a fine of Rs 13,000 from them so far. Around 9,482 preventive notices have been given to hospitals, educational institutes and nursing homes as well.”
This month the cases of dengue have shot up to 532 in civic hospitals and with a majority of the cases from Kurla, Govandi, Byculla, Chinchpokli, and Bandra (E) ward.
Dr Rajan Naringrekar, insecticide officer at the BMC, said, “The cases have gone up as breeding of Aedes aegypti mosquito (which spreads the dengue virus) is at its peak and residents have to be more careful as breeding spots are found in refrigerator trays, feng shui plants, and money plants which are usually present indoors.”