19 September,2017 08:28 AM IST | Mumbai | Rupsa Chakraborty
The Briham Mumbai Muncipal Corporation sent KEM hospital a warning letter, after which officials cleaned stagnant water from two of the three spots that were believed to be mosquito breeding grounds
Several mosquito-breeding sites were found at KEM hospital
What do you do when you're down with dengue? Go to hospital, right? But what if the hospital itself has mosquitoes breeding on its premises? That seems to be the scene at KEM hospital, the city's biggest civic hospital, which has got a warning letter from BMC for its failure to control the breeding. Following an inspection by the insecticide department last week, a warning letter was sent to the hospital on Friday.
Dengue mosquitoes were found breeding in water accumulated on tarpaulin sheets on the hospital premises
As per sources, they found several mosquito-breeding sites on the hospital premises, particularly in the stagnant water collected on the tarpaulin on the rooftops and next to drains.
"We sent a letter to the hospital after finding mosquitoes breeding at several sites. Following heavy rain, water had got deposited on tarpaulin covers, which turned into the perfect breeding spots for dengue mosquitoes, which can spread up to 400 metres in diametre," said a senior official from the insecticide department, BMC.
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Hospital authorities, however, said they removed the stagnant water within 24 hours of receiving the letter. Dean of the college and director of major hospitals Dr Avinash Supe said, "The letter was given to our civil department on Friday; they responded within a day and did the required cleaning."
Over the past month, 15 resident doctors at KEM have been diagnosed with dengue, and three of them are still undergoing treatment, said a source. But Dr Supe contradicted the information and said only one nurse has been admitted for treatment.
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Following the number of resident doctors falling prey to dengue, MARD also issued an advisory to the students to wear protective gear. "We have hung posters all over, requesting students to be careful... We also held a meeting with the hospital dean regarding it, following which the premises were fogged and the drains cleaned," said a resident doctor.
Speaking to mid-day, BMC's insecticide officer Rajan Naringrekar confirmed that they sent a warning letter to the hospital regarding water stagnation on tarpaulin. "Three spots were identified, out of which two have been cleaned. On Monday, we held a meeting, where we instructed them to clean the third spot at the earliest," he said.
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