Environment Ministry, Lady Hardinge among 240 buildings issued notices for mosquito-breeding

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The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has issued notices to over 240 prominent buildings in Delhi's VIP zone, including those housing the offices of the Environment Ministry and Lady Hardinge hospital after mosquitoes were found breeding in their premises.

The move comes after a spike in the cases of malaria in June with at least 51 people affected by it, three times the number of people affected with dengue in the same month, according to a municipal report released on Monday.

The civic body has formed a surveillance team that is inspecting all the buildings since last month as mosquito-breeding is conducive in the monsoon.

Notices have been issued to 240 to government offices, hospitals and schools after vector-carrying mosquitoes were found breeding in their premises, a senior NDMC official told PTI.

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"Some of the defaulters include the Paryavaran Bhawan, Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan and Lady Hardinge hospital," the official said. The Paryavaran Bhawan houses the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

"We had undertaken an intensive drive to check the rooftops of government buildings, private buildings, hospitals, schools and residential colonies in the NDMC area for taking precautionary measures to check and control in spreading dengue, malaria and chikungunya diseases," the official said.

He said as many as 1,140 houses were visited during the drive, out of which 33 were found positive, whereas a total of 5,825 containers were checked and 65 were found positive.

The civic body has planned an intensive sanitation drive from July 17-19, in which the entire NDMC area would be checked.

The total number of malaria and dengue cases reported this year till July 6 are 60 and 26, respectively.

According to the report, 51 malaria cases were reported in June, eight in May and one in April. Of the total 26 dengue cases, 15 were reported in June, three in May, two in April, four in March and one each in January and February.

Twelve cases of chikungunya -- two in February and one each in March, April and May, and seven in June -- have been recorded, it said.

Last year, 2,798 dengue cases and four deaths were recorded by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which tabulates the data on vector-borne diseases in the city. 

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