SPEAK UP: Deadly potholes are turning into breeding spots for mosquitoes

The rainy season might have brought the much needed respite from heat, unfortunately it also brings along a lot of diseases. The capital city is no different to this fact, as it has seen a rise in vector borne diseases. One of the major reasons for it is water getting collected in the potholes.

Many internal roads with potholes are neglected, which are the cause of mosquito breeding.

The Public Works Department (PWD) received over 1,352 road-related complaints, which include potholes, pits etc, and an additional 827 waterlogging complaints till July 26. Despite several measures and complaints from people, the issue is still ignored.

If one walks past the Karol Bagh Metro station, there are pits on the roadside filled with water and a layer of mosquitoes on top of it and similar is the case near Noida Sector 16 Metro station where pits have layers of mosquitoes and breeding larvae on top of it.

Every monsoon the city faces similar problems but despite this not much is done. The drains get flooded and the water overflows. While departments blame each other, the common man continues to suffer due to the various issues under the civic bodies.

There roads in my area has many potholes, more  than the mosquito breeding I am worried about accidents. The civic body turns a blind eye every year. We do hear some lives are lost while avoiding potholes but the authorities fail to better the roads.
— Agraj Magotra, Patel Nagar

As the rains arrive the  condition of Delhi roads  worsen. When the politicians come to claim votes they give all big talks that they will resolve the pending issues, but when the real issues actual break out we just hear them writing letters to higher-ups and not doing anything beyond it.
—Nidhi Sharma, Ramesh Nagar

Time and again we have government telling us that paying tax helps in the development of the city but in reality I feel that taxpayers money goes down in the drain with authorities using sub standard material to lay the road or even while repairing it. Once repaired the condition of the roads do no improve, in fact further accumulates and it turns in to breeding ground for mosquitoes. Roads in Seelampur are so poor that nobody is sure about reaching home safely.
—Keshav, Bharampuri

As monsoon arrives so does the struggle to reach work place rises. Either we have to brace to our work with pothole-ridden road or heavy traffic jams due to waterlogging. I wonder why does even the civic body claims that they have cleared drains before monsoons or the quality of the road is checked. Apart from the water accumulating in ths pits, we have seen garbage also adds to the spread of the disease.
—Madhu Kataria, Bharampuri

My major worry is the bad conditions of the road. One can still take measures to stop mosquito breeding, but, what will one do if the roads are in poor condition. The damage caused to vehicle is also huge which burns a hole in my pocket
—Aadyasha Dash, Patel Nagar

The civic body has one more reason to improve the condition of the roads. Apart from it leading to accidents, deaths, now we hear from health experts that it is leading to dengue and malaria.  
—Isha Awasti, Shalimar Bagh

EXPERT SPEAK

With the increase in the amount of rainfall, we have seen a sudden rise in the number of dengue cases. Every day we are getting at least two cases of dengue making it over 15 cases per week. It is strongly suggested to keep the surroundings dry and free from mosquito breeding zones, we do not need another epidemic. Waterlogging in the surrounding areas is adding to the woes, people’s health is getting affected.  
Doctor SP Byotra, Head of Medicine, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.

We try our best to ensure that there is no waterlogging on the road.  We do keep a check on the water that accumulated on the road, we have a control room that keeps a check on potsholes, and repair it at the earliest. We are making sure that there is no mosquito breeding grounds in these areas,”
Yogendra Singh Mann, Spokesperson, North Civic Body.