Caterpillars crawl into Jogeshwari

Karunashankar Upadhyay, 97, is bedridden because of old age. Recently, he has another problem and he doesn’t know how to tackle that.

He, like the 500-odd families of Sahakar Road in Jogeshwari (West), has been attacked by a horde of black caterpillars, leaving rashes all over the body. The black insects have been creeping all over the place for the past week, making life difficult.

“These caterpillars have needle-like hair on their bodies which coils and sticks on the skin until it is red and swollen,” said Jayshree, daughter-in-law of Karunashankar.

Complaints have been registered with the K-West ward office and the municipal commissioner. “We were told that the BMC’s pest control department doesn’t have pesticides to tackle the menace.

They sprayed pesticide in the area but it did not rid the area of caterpillars,” said Sanjay Ranade, a resident of Usha Kunj.
People are clueless where the insects came from. The municipal corporation is clueless about how to rid the area of the menace.

Jyoti Sutar, Shiv Sena corporator of the K-west ward, visited the area and raised the issue in ward council meeting. “We do not have an effective pesticide for such insects as it is not on our list. But, we are trying to procure one,” she said.

As the civic body tries to come up with a solution, the black caterpillars are swarming everywhere.  

Apart from several buildings on Sahakar Road, Yadav Nagar and Bhagoji chawl have not been spared.

“There are caterpillars everywhere — on roofs, walls, floor, bathroom, toilet, kitchen and open spaces around our houses,” said Divyesh Trivedi.

“These dangerous insects bite people which may also lead to health hazard. They also creep into potable water, contaminating it,” he said.

Trivedi has written to state health minister Suresh Shetty.
Rajshri Nagvekar and Santosh Kothari have a difficult time cooking as the caterpillars are every where in the kitchen. “These pests enter utensils, food grains and even water containers,” said Nagvekar.

Former corporator Vishnu Korgaonkar also visited the place on Wednesday. Korgaonkar, now the shakha pramukh of the area, bought pesticide and sprayed it on Wednesday, but in vain.
geeta.desai@dnaindia.net