Pune, July 13: Dengue and malaria have again reared their head in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
Unlike in the past when dengue and malaria cases surged post-monsoon, this time the menace has cropped up right during the monsoon.
The affected areas include Pimple Saudagar, Wakad, Rahatni and areas around Jagtap Diary. At these places construction activity has been going on for years. Pimple Saudagar, where property prices have hit the roof and where many IT professionals working in Hinjewadi software park stay, has been the worst hit.
Since January, 150 dengue cases and 250 malaria cases have been recorded in Pimpri-Chinchwad. In July alone, till Saturday, around 20 dengue and 30 malaria cases have been registered.
Even as the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation has issued notices to 36 builders to remove pools of water around their construction sites, residents and civic activists are breathing fire at the civic body for “playing with their lives.”
Thirty-five-year-old Bhagvat Sonawane, a resident of upmarket Pimple Saudagar, said, “In the past few years, dengue and malaria cases have been making life miserable for residents in Pimple Saudagar. This year, the situation is worse. Yet, the civic body has refused to take emergency steps.”
A week ago, Sonawane, a project manager with an IT firm, had to be admitted to Aditya Birla Hospital with high fever. “I was treated for a week for dengue and the total bill was Rs 24,700,” he said.
He could afford to pay the bill, but what about poor construction labourers and other poor families, said Sonawane.
Next to his bed at the hospital was an IT professional who had come from Bangalore for training . “He had spent barely three days in Pimple Saudagar before he got dengue. Many IT professionals are suffering either from malaria or dengue,” said Sonawane, who lives in Tushar Residency.
A roadside shopkeeper’s two sons were also admitted to a private hospital. The shopkeeper spent nearly Rs 30,000 on their treatment. Both have been discharged, he said.
Sonawane said the builders in Pimple Saudagar, Rahatni and Wakad areas need to be reined in. “Pools of water are a common sight at construction sites. Besides, garbage is spread all over. All this is spawning the mosquito menace while the civic body has shut its eyes,” he said.
PCMC medical director Dr Rajshekhar Iyer said builders have been told to take precautions to prevent the mosquito menace. “If they don’t, we will bring their construction activity to a halt,” Dr Iyer said.
Maruti Bhapkar, an activist-turned-corporator, said the PCMC had not taken any action against builders in the past and will not do it now. “Residents should learn to take care of themselves,” he remarked.
–Agencies