BMC notice to tabela owners
Altogether 300 tabela (cow shelter) owners have been served with notices by the health department of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for ignoring excreta and animal waste from such shelters before the monsoon.
A health officer of BMC said most of the notices are served to tabela owners located in the western and eastern suburbs.
He said BMC has taken this initiative to control spread of diseases like leptospirosis that can affect people drastically.
“Almost all departments of the civic body like sanitation, maintenance and pest control have issued notices to the tabela owners because of the negligence in maintaining the health standards of animals,” a senior official of BMC health department said.
As per the BMC notice, the cowshed owners have to submit compliance notice within 10 days failing which strict action will be taken against them.
“An inspection for vaccine-preventable diseases was conducted by the BMC in 2016, and based on the reports, all cow shelter owners were issued a notice in the second last week of May to take corrective measures and submit the compliance report immediately,” the official said.
In the meantime, the executive health officer of the civic body said the health department has asked all cowshed owners to get their cattle tested and submit reports to the health officer to avoid outbreak of leptospirosis, which is caused by consuming urine of infected animals.
“Despite giving notice and asking them to submit the reports, only few shed owners have compiled to the instructions,” Dr. Padmaja Keskar, executive health officer of BMC, said.
She said they have also learnt that disposal guidelines of buffalo urine and dung which are meant to be discarded outside city limits on a daily basis is not being followed.
“Since the waste is being released in the drains, a prosecution notice has been forwarded in the interest of public health. If ignored, we will issue another notice to the police and send a copy to court,” Dr. Keskar said.
Dr. Om Shrivastava, an infectious disease expert, said leptospirosis is an infectious disease, which reaches people through the excreta of the animals. During the rain, the polluted excreta from the tabelas flows with the rain water due to which it comes in contact with people and get leptospirosis.