Give labourers nets, hold health camps: Builders told…….Bhavika Jain
To step up methods to curb the spread of malaria, the municipal corporation will issue a list of health mandate that developers will have to follow to keep their labourers healthy. As part of the Mumbai Aarogya Abhiyaan, developers will have to provide nets to labourers working on their construction sites and undertake health camps for them periodically. This directive comes after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) found out that construction sites are high risk malaria zones mosquitoes breed in the water stored in tanks and the accumulated stagnant water on the sites.
Moreover, it was observed that labourers are carriers of the virus.
There are currently more than 2,400 construction sites in the city.
“We are going to list a few mandatory health precautions that developers must undertake, these precautions will be low on cost,” said an official from the health department, requesting anonymity for lack of authorisation to talk to the media.
The BMC will also include more than 35,000 homeless in the Mumbai Aarogya Abhiyaan. The corporation is also planning to make short public awareness video advertisements to spread awareness among the public.
“There are over 40 lakh houses in the city, some of which could be mosquito breeding sites. So this campaign will help create awareness among the public,” said Dr G T Ambe, executive health officer.