Mosquito menace: 29,000 breeding spots identified

The Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) health department has identified about 29,000 spots in the city where mosquito breeding can take place. It has undertaken a plan to spray insecticides in these areas to curb the mosquito menace considering the danger of dengue and malaria in stagnant water.

According to the PMC officials, these 29,000 spots include mostly construction sites, tyre-repairing workshops, scrap dealers’ shops where water gets accumulated and due to stagnation mosquitoes breeding takes place.

Head of PMC’s insect control department Vaishali Jadhav,  said, “We have identified about 29,000 spots in the city where mosquito breeding takes place. These areas are mainly in Hadapsar, Vimannagar, Yerawada where lot of construction is going and there are slums.

We have undertaken a plan where our staffers are spraying insecticides at those spots to make sure that the mosquitoes does not breed.” She added, “Zonal officers will be inspecting these spots regularly and if such mosquito breeding is found at any site, the owners will be served notices.”

Jadhav said,”We have prepared by-laws to take necessary action against those who will not keep their areas clean. The proposal will be put up in the next general body meeting.”

The health department is also planning to create awareness about the danger of mosquito breeds. “We will be using our ghanta gadis, which collect garbage, to create awareness through an announcement system installed in these vehicles. We are meeting real estate developers to make them aware of how stagnant water at the construction site is conducive for mosquito breeding which can spread dengue,” Jadhav said.