10,227 appeals were sent to housing societies, but the civic body only got 1,097 positive responses
Mumbai : The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had proposed a programme of appointing voluntary mosquito detectors from various residential building in January. Following this, 10,227 appeals were sent to residential complexes to ensure public participation in bringing down mosquito breeding spots to curb vector-borne diseases. However, the civic body has received only 1,097 positive responses from the societies which is turning out to be a cause of concern for civic officers.
Civic officers claimed that in spite of showing power-point presentations, sending appeals and convincing them for participation, people are not willing to come forward and take initiative. Dr Rajan Naringrekar, insecticide officer at BMC said “There is very little enthusiasm and willingness among people which has yielded little success for our programme. We have sent appeals to all private and residential complexes and even chawls, however, the response is discouraging. But we are committed towards controlling breeding of mosquitoes effectively.”
According to civic officials, the idea behind appointing voluntary detectors is to train people in identifying breeding spots and take requisite action with the help of BMC men. “We are trying our best to involve citizens in order to ensure their residential society or corporate building does not collect fresh water conducive for mosquito multiplication. However, we are not going to stop working towards our goal and we will make sure that maximum societies turn up to enroll themselves,” added Dr Naringrekar.
The city has recorded 22 dengue cases and 337 malaria cases from public and government hospitals in the first two weeks of July alone. Meanwhile, private hospitals are treating 50-60 patients every day with monsoon-related diseases. Following this, civic officers emphasized that it is crucial that citizens guard their household premises as dengue-causing mosquitoes breed indoors.
Manasi Tahalani
