The Times of India             04.10.2013

PMC files cases against 7 builders, society

PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation's (PMC) health department has filed court cases against seven builders and a housing society for not clearing mosquito breeding sites on their premises despite several warnings.

The civic administration has been trying hard to curb mosquito-borne diseases like dengue which have infected over 400 people and claimed six lives so far, this year.

"We filed eight cases at the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) on October 1 for facilitating mosquito breeding by not clearing stagnant water and thus endangering the health of people living nearby. Among them seven cases have been filed against builders and another case has been filed against a housing society. They were told to clear mosquito breeding sites but they did not pay any heed to our warning or subsequent notices following which we had to take the legal route," Vaishali Jadhav, assistant medical officer of health (AMoH) and head of the insect control department told TOI on Thursday.

The building construction site located in Sadashiv Peth had water in its basement an ideal setting for mosquito breeding. "Our insect control experts had found the dengue causing Aedes aegypti mosquito in the stagnant water. We issued a warning notice to the builder to clear the water within 24 hours on September 25, but he did not comply with it. We issued another notice on September 26, but there was no compliance. Hence, we filed the court case against him on October 1," Jadhav said.

Another builder of a construction site located in Mohammedwadi also ignored the health department's notice when the officials brought it to his notice that water had accumulated in the construction ducts, terraces and uncovered water tanks. "We first issued a warning notice to him on April 22. We issued two notices on June 6 and August 8, but he did not initiate any action. The case was filed against him on October 1," Jadhav said.

A construction site located on NIBM Road also had mosquito breeding sites on its premises. The builder did not heed the health official's warning notice and subsequent notices were served on August 29 and September 20. A court case has been filed against him on October 1.

Similarly, the construction sites located in Mohammedwadi, Handewadi, NIBM Road, and in Parvati were also found at fault for ignoring mosquito breeding. "All were given ample time to clear the accumulated water but they did not bother, hence court cases were filed against them. The mosquito Aedes aegypti, vector for dengue, was found on their premises," Jadhav said.

A housing society located on Malwadi Road in Hadapsar had accumulated water in the building's basement. "The office bearers did nothing even after we issued notices on September 9 and September 24. We had to file cases against the society in public interest," Jadhav said.Action Part of PMC's effort to curb mosquito-borne diseases like dengue which have infected over 400 people and claimed six lives so far this year

Breeding sites found in Sadashiv Peth, Mohammedwadi, NIBM Road, Handewadi, Parvati and Hadapsar 19 cases filed with JMFC court since July.