The letter also warned that the menace, which looms large over the abutting areas of terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, if starts inside the airport premise will tarnish the image of our country.
As citizens from Marol and nearby areas in Andheri (E) continue to battle increasing mosquito menace, BMC K/East ward has written to Chief Engineer of StormWater Drain (SWD) to begin removal of water hyacinth along the banks of Mithi river on a war footing. The letter also warned that the menace, which looms large over the abutting areas of terminal 2 of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, if starts inside the airport premise will tarnish the image of our country.
The letter also stated that the Pest Control Officer (PCO) K/East ward noticed that a 'profuse culex mosquito breeding' was detected due to the growth of waterhyacinth along the banks of Mithi river making its removal necessary at the earliest. Culex mosquito is known to be a vector for filaria.
Sandeep Parab a resident of Marol said that while an area of almost two kilometres is hit by the mosquito menace but the worst affected areas are housing societies along the river in Sabaug, Ashok Nagar, Marol, Bamandaya Pada in Andheri (E).
"SSC and HSC exams will begin soon and these mosquito bites will affect hundreds of students from these areas who study at night and even those who sleep early to wake up early. Also, citizens are forced to use mosquito repellents inside their houses throughout the day, which is also harmful to health," said Parab.
Activist and resident of Chimatpada, Ravi Nair who lodged several complaints with BMC ward office said that following his complaints the ward officer sent staff for spraying insecticides in the river to curb breeding and carried out fogging operations, but it had no impact. "The root cause of the problem is the large scale growth of water hyacinth, along the banks in the stagnated water. Ideally, BMC should put in place a mechanism that will remove water hyacinth from time to time," said Nair.
According to a senior BMC official, the only way to deal with the problem was regular removal of water hyacinth since spaying insecticides are not possible at trouble spots due to the 20-feet embankment wall. "We are sending our staff regularly to get rid of mosquito larvae through spraying. We are also taken the issue to the SWD department for hyacinth removal," said the official.
Sources in BMC informed that the same issue was identified in 2014 and following years as the cause for an infestation of mosquitoes in T2 terminal leaving passengers with multiple bites and officials in panic after a huge hue and cry.
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