Builders fined for Mosquito breeding places

In its ongoing drive against the spread of dengue, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has identified 95 mosquito breeding places at construction sites. The civic body inspected 460 construction sites and issued notices to errant builders and collected fines totalling Rs30,000 from them.

To implement its action plan, the civic administration started implementing its action plan, visiting sites aggressively.

PCMC’s medical officer Rajaram Chavan said extra manpower of 150 medical staffers has been deployed in all four wards to curb dengue. In the mornings, medical teams inspected construction sites and houses and fumigation was carried out in the evening.

According to civic officials, the medical staff has so far inspected 90,000 houses in slums and residential areas. There are 2,548 places where dengue mosquitoes have been found. Nearly 2 lakh water samples were collected from various places during this week. The civic staff has emptied nearly 1,000 barrels in which water had been stored for several weeks at construction sites, garages and industries.

Corporators had blamed civic officials on Tuesday for avoiding taking action against builders. PCMC standing committee chairman Jagdish Shetty had asked the medical staff to present the data of site visits and action taken. Dapodi corporator Chandrakanta Sonkamble said, “PCMC should file criminal cases against developers in suburbs. Proper care was not taken so the residents are suffering from dengue fever.”