Mumbai : Of the 17,904 Mumbaikars who were given notices by BMC for mosquito-breeding spots in their homes, 1,215 were prosecuted under section 381 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act for non-compliance.
Revealing the figures, which expose the lack of awareness among citizens, the civic insecticide department said on Friday that it wanted to rope in volunteers from residential societies to look for possible breeding spots themselves.
It plans to appoint a team of minimum five volunteers who will be trained in identifying mosquito-breeding sites in their respective localities and eliminating them. Citizens can approach the pest control officer of their respective wards for enlisting for this programme which is free of charge. The BMC has appealed to citizens to enlist for this programme in large numbers. Dengue saw the death of 19 people in the city in 2014, although the BMC confirmed only 12 deaths. It pegged the total number of cases at 760, despite thousands of people suffering from the deadly disease. While the instances of malaria were comparatively lesser in 2014, dengue deaths reached last year’s mark of 12 causing much uproar.
Hence, the BMC cracked the whip on dengue breeders by sending out 17,904 notices in 2014. Besides, 1,885 warnings were sent to such households. Most of these families complied with the instructions and took the necessary steps to remove the breeding spots. But 1,215 households or authorities concerned who did not comply with the instructions were sent notices through the Metropolitan Magistrate’s court.
Under section 381 A of the MMC Act, a fine of up to Rs 10,000 can be levied for non-compliance while under section 381 B, a fine of up to Rs 5000 can be levied. The BMC collected a total of Rs 32,51,100 in fine in 2014.
“Our objective is not to collect revenue through such penalties. We want people to become aware of the dangers of such diseases and become pro-active in controlling them,” said Rajan Naringrekar, head of the department.
According to him, much needs to be done from the citizens’ side of the story since there is only so much the BMC can do.
