Mumbai: The BMC has started anti-larval treatment wherever the rainwater has accumulated. In the last two weeks of a door-to-door campaign, the civic team has found and destroyed 1,578 breeding spots infested with larvae of malaria and 10,659 spots of dengue. A notice was served to 7,693 residential and commercial complexes between January to June. Among these, 262 cases were filed in court for those failing to prevent mosquito breeding. The civic body has collected a fine of Rs 6.41 lakh.
To reduce the threat, every year the insecticide department manually traces and destroys mosquito breeding spots. The BMC sprays disinfectants through drones in inaccessible mill areas of Worli, Lower Parel and Mahalaxmi. The city witnessed heavy rainfall in the month of July. However, there has been a dry spell so far in August.
Details On Civic Body's Inspection Drive
There is a possibility of mosquitoes breeding if water accumulates for over a week. The insecticide department of the civic body has started visiting houses in the city. As per the data, the insecticides department has inspected 13,220 houses and 35,435 breeding sources for Anopheles mosquitoes spreading Malaria. While for Aedes mosquitoes spreading dengue 7,41,519 houses and 7,91,750 containers were inspected from August 1 to 13.
The workers of the insecticide department also search for other mosquito breeding sites such as containers, tyres, odd articles, coconut shells, etc and get them destroyed. The civic body has outsourced 1,213 volunteers for the destruction of mosquito breeding spots.