Mumbai builders violate vector control laws
Yogesh Pawar
It’s not just slum dwellers who are reporting sick with dengue in Mumbai’s civic hospitals, but also patients from posh housing colonies, like the one at Mumbai’s Kandivili suburb.
Colonies which have come up in the city in the last few years were supposed to have a vector control plan.
It means they must have measures in place to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes.
Five years ago the state had passed a law that made it mandatory for builders to mention in their blueprints how they will keep their sites mosquito free.
It was a legislation, which could have prevented the spread of dengue in the city, but no builder has followed the law.
Legal support
Health authorities now plan to initiate legal measures against such builders.
“Building sites have water storage facilities. Also many workers come from malaria-affected regions making them carriers. The builders should be more responsible. If they do not comply then we are contemplating legal measures against them,” said J G Thanekar, Executive Health Officer, BMC.
It’s a problem that real estate industry experts admit most builders are guilty of.
“Unfortunately there are people in the development community who are in rush to move from one project to another for making a quick buck. This jeopardises the health of all the people,” said Chanakya Chakravarti, VP, Cushman and Wakefield.
But it’s not just private builders who are guilty of bypassing the law. Even projects by the Maharashtra Housing and Development Authority (MHADA), does not have vector control plans in place.
“The MHADA leaves gutters and drains open. With dengue and malaria around we are worried for the health of our children and ourselves. How can the government body do this?” said V S Amin, Chairperson, Bimbisar Nagar Association.
But government officials were unwilling to comment on their own lapses.
While builders on one hand have been unwilling to comply with five-year-old legislation, the civic officials who have not done enough to enforce it are equally to blame for the spread of dengue.