The Indian Express             04.06.2013

Civic body likely to decide on penalising builders today

With monsoon set to arrive in a few days, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will on Tuesday discuss the civic administration's proposal that seeks to penalise builders who fail to check mosquito breeding at construction sites.

The civic body has come up with the draft rules that propose criminal proceedings against citizens who do not follow civic guidelines to prevent the mosquito menace.

Water tanks at construction sites, potholes, open septic tanks, water tanks without lids on open terraces, unused wells, non-operational decorative fountains, other water bodies like nullahs, swimming pools, storm water drainage and uncovered water storage utensils are prone to mosquito breeding.

"If owners fail to check mosquito breeding at their properties they will have to pay a fine of Rs 1,000 and an additional Rs 100 every day if steps are not taken to stop the menace. The civic administration will also initiate criminal proceedings if rules are violated," said an official.

According to the civic proposal, individuals or organisations should ensure that water stored on their premises do not become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. "The civic body can also issue orders to stop work at construction sites. The order will be in place until proper measures are taken to check the menace," read the proposal.

If PMC identifies mosquito breeding sites on private property, the owner would be served a notice asking him to initiate steps to tackle the situation, said the proposal. It added that the civic administration would initiate action like "physical and biological measures" if citizens fail to check the menace. "However, the expenditure would be incurred by the owner of the property,"the proposal said.

According to the proposal, if civic staff are stopped from doing their duty, the civic administration would take action against owners.