Mumbai: BMC finds 21 mosquito breeding spots at Dadar, Matunga, Mahim, Sion railway stations

BMC officials on duty. Pic/BMC

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) found 21 mosquito breeding spots near Dadar, Matunga, Mahim and Sion railway stations on Saturday.

According to the BMC officials, a special ‘Mosquito Eradication Campaign' was started at the ward level to control malaria and dengue cases. The civic body's G North ward organised a special monsoon drive to find out breeding spots in various areas across the ward. The drive helped the BMC to locate 21 Anopheles mosquito larvae breeding spots on the sheds and roofs of four railway stations.

BMC workers inspecting the roofs of the railway stations. Pic/BMC

While Mumbai has witnessed heavy rainfall for the past few days, the possibility of spreading epidemic diseases has increased across the city.

BR Bhansi, Pesticide Control Officer, G North ward said, "Various activities are being carried out to control the spread of malaria and dengue diseases in Dadar, Mahim, Matunga and Dharavi areas. Pesticides are being sprayed on the water accumulated on the roofs of the railway stations. 21 Anopheles mosquito larvae breeding spots were detected on the sheds of Dadar, Mahim, Matunga and Sion railway stations."

Also read: Mumbai: BMC unwittingly creates mosquito breeding spots

"Due to these mosquito breeding spots, last year, a lot of malaria cases were reported amongst the people who live on the footpath near these railway stations. To avoid the same situation this year, we started early inspections from June first week. So far, there haven't found any malaria cases amongst the people living on the footpath this year," he further added.

The G North ward comprises Dadar, Mahim, Matunga, and Dharavi areas. This year, over 400 housing societies were given notices where the breeding habitat of Anopheles mosquito larvae was found throughout the year of which 26 cases were prosecuted in the magistrate court.

"Most of these societies are from Dadar, Matunga areas where under-construction/repair work are carried out. During the inspection, we found the breedings at the stagnant water accumulated in the repair sites," added the BMC officials.

Besides this, Aedes aegypti mosquito breeding spots are mostly found in the slum pockets, especially in the Dharavi area.

The BMC official, Bhansi said, "Water tanks/drums and other water containers are majorly used in the slum pockets. The small-scale shops and manufacturing units in Dharavi have a lot of water drums usage for indoor as well as outdoor purposes. These containers are hotspots from Aedes aegypti mosquitoes that spread dengue. We inspect these sites and also create awareness among people to not keep the water collected for a longer duration."

Early this month, Mumbai reported around 119 malaria cases and 19 dengue cases across the city. So far, from January 1 to July 10, Mumbai has reported 1,362 malaria cases and 142 dengue cases.

As per the Praja Foundation report, in the past 10 years the G North ward reported 2,089 malaria cases and 383 dengue cases.