President Pranab Mukherjee's mosquito woes: NDMC slaps 52 notices on Rashtrapati Bhavan

The sprawling President's Estate has been found to be breeding mosquitoes at many accumulated pools of stagnant water - with 52 notices slapped on Rashtrapati Bhavan by the New Delhi Municipal Council on 21 August.

The notices were issued to Rashtrapati Bhavan since January by NDMC after mosquito larvae were found at many places dotting the 320-acre estate. With the capital reporting many dengue cases, the NDMC has decided to control the mosquito menace, including in the President's Estate.

"We have issued 52 notices to various complexes and residential quarters in the Presidential Estate. We had formed teams to inspect the Rashtrapati Bhavan premises, which then spotted mosquitogenic conditions," a senior NDMC official said.

The teams included members from the sanitation and horticulture units at Rashtrapati Bhavan, and the civil engineering unit under the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and personnel of the malaria unit of the NDMC health department. Last year, NDMC had issued over 125 notices to the President's Estate after "heavy" mosquito-breeding was found at various places on its sprawling campus.

Advisories have been issued to more than 50 embassies that fall in the NDMC area to be active in controlling breeding of mosquitoes. The NDMC official said the civic body does not have the authority to issue challan or serve notice to embassies, and would extend all support to embassies in controlling mosquito breeding.

Regarding government offices and residential colonies, the official said if after inspection, the premises are found to be positive for mosquito breeding, then notices are served. Safdarjung hospital, prestigious Delhi Golf Club, Shivaji Stadium and Akashwani Bhawan are among the 146 buildings challaned by the civic body over dengue breeding this season.

The civic body has so far issued a total of 3,337 notices this season. Among the buildings which have been issued notices by NDMC are prominent hospitals including AIIMS, Safdarjung, Lady Hardinge Medical Vollege and LHMC hospital.

Prestigious hotels such as Ashoka and Taj Man Singh have also been issued notices after the inspection team detected mosquitogenic conditions in their premises. "We have issued 3,337 notices and 146 challans this season over dengue breeding. During the inspection, if the premises are tested positive for mosquito breeding, they are issued notices," the official said. "But if no improvement is found in the hygiene conditions during the next inspection, the defaulters are issued challan," he added. According to municipal reports, at least 171 cases of dengue have been reported this season in Delhi with 52 of these being recorded in the first week of August. The vector-borne disease has claimed two lives so far during this season.

--PTI