Soon, police complaints if you fail to check mosquito breeding
NEWDELHI: The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has given its sanitation officials the authority to file police complaints against repeat offenders who fail to check mosquito breeding in their residential or commercial premises.
A day after the Delhi High Court pulled up the civic authorities over their alleged “inaction” in controlling mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya, the civic agencies issued notices to all concerned officers saying that they can face termination if their dereliction of duty leads to outbreak of diseases.
“The dengue mosquito breeds in fresh water and a large majority of breeding cases are reported from residential premises. It has been observed that even after repeated challans, people don’t take measures to control breeding. We are assuming that after the announcement people will ensure no water logging in their areas,” said Dr BK Hazarika, medical health officer, SDMC.
The civic agency has directed its sanitation and assistant sanitation inspectors to file police complaints against property owners for negligence (under section 269 of IPC) if repeated mosquito breeding is found.
This would be in addition to increasing the on-the-spot fine and imposing heavy penalties on the repeated offenders.
“We have asked the zonal deputy commissioners and deputy health officers to collect action taken report during weekly meetings besides conducting surprise checks. And, if anyone is found to be absent or not performing his/ her job properly, then strict action would be taken that may include suspension or termination from the job,” said Hazarika.
“The civic agency had terminated 15 domestic breeding checkers and field staff for being absent and not performing job properly,” he said.
Meanwhile, North Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner Madhup Vyas convened a meeting with senior officials on sanitation and dengue issues on Thursday. “There will be zero tolerance against any negligence in this matter. As far as lifting of garbage and cleaning of areas is concerned, we have asked the sanitation staffs to ensure no area is left unattended and cleaning is done outside the dhalaos also. Any dereliction of duty in this regard would invite immediate and harsh disciplinary action,” said Vyas.