The civic body’s attempts to get builders to fumigate construction sites have gone down the drain, literally. Only 37 of the 2,438 developers carrying out construction work in the city have paid heed to the directives issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and appointed private agencies for fogging and spraying insecticides.
“Construction sites and slums are considered high-risk zones for spread of malaria. The water tanks and puddles in these areas act as mosquito breeding grounds,” said additional municipal commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar.
After one more patient succumbed to malaria, Shiv Sena leader in the BMC Sunil Prabhu raised the issue during a special general body meeting on Tuesday. Stressing on the need for preventive measures, Prabhu said epidemics due to vector borne diseases were at an all-time high in the city.
Mhaiskar said they had chalked out a six-step action plan to eradicate malaria. “Our first step is to stop the breeding of mosquitoes. For this, a retired doctor from the state government health department has been hired as a consultant,” she said.
Earlier, the civic body had sent a circular to the builders requesting them to fumigate their construction sites as well as well as to take other measures to control malaria. However, nobody showed interest, and the civic body decided to continue fogging and spraying of insecticides at such sites.
Last week, public health minister Suresh Shetty had said the city had become the malaria capital of the nation. Though the state percentage has declined by 12 %, the number of cases in Mumbai, Thane and Nashik have gone up by 7, 10 and 1% respectively.
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