Government agencies could be penalised for not doing enough

Officials said the main problem was the water storage tanks owned by these government agencies which are the breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The PWD has 1,815 water storage tanks most of which are overhead. Out of these,only 305 have been treated for mosquitoes while the rest are yet to be treated. Similarly,the Central Railway has treated only 38 tanks out of its 796 tanks. The MMRDA has 150 tanks all of which are untreated. The nature of the violations includes not covering the tank with a lid,damaged lids,unclean tanks,leakages in the tank etc.

In the G south ward,about 22 construction sites have been sent offence sheets and two have been given the stop work notice for failure to comply with malaria safety norms. There are 2,600 construction sites in the city.

Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Manisha Mhaiskar said while most agencies have carried out work in a satisfactory manner,those who are not doing so will be given a deadline of seven days. “After seven days,we will carry out an inspection and those found lagging will be sent notices. At the same time,some agencies have done a very good job. Airports Authority complied with 10 different requirements along the runway and hangars which are hotbeds for malaria,” said Mhaiskar.