Mosquito breeding at 53 construction sites in Delhi due to norm violations: MCD

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has found high mosquito breeding rate stemming from large-scale violations of building norms at nearly 20% of the construction sites it inspected in the city, according to officials.

The findings have prompted the public health department to seek intervention of its engineering wing to control the said violations, the officials added.

With the rise in temperature and consequent increase in mosquito density, the public health department undertook a special drive on April 10  under which 267 construction sites across the city were randomly checked — of these, 53 sites were found with large-scale mosquito breeding, according to officials.

A senior MCD official said: “The construction sites in the city were found to have large scale violations. Under a spot-checking drive, active mosquito breeding has been found at 53 sites with maximum violations in the West zone and Karol Bagh zone. Fifty-eight legal notices have been issued and 12 prosecutions have been launched.”

A second official added that the engineering department has also been requested to incorporate the vector control preventive measures in building regulations so that rampant problem of construction-related violations can be tamed.

“The construction sites use a large amount of fresh water which often stagnates and acts as ideal mosquito breeding site. Permanent solutions in terms of structural interventions have to be incorporated,” the official added.

However, the government is yet to issue a detailed guideline and regulations for builders and building owners to control mosquito breeding.

According to the MCD action-taken report, a copy of which was seen by HT, the maximum positivity rate was in Shahdara South zone, where 10 sites were randomly checked and six were found with mosquito breeding. It was followed by Karol Bagh where 16 sites were randomly checked and seven found positive. Eleven such sites were found in West zone, nine in South, seven in Karol Bagh, six in City SP, six in Shahdara South, five in Keshavpuram, three each in Rohini and Najafgarh, two in Central and one in Narela.

Structural intervention pending for three years

In October 2021, a gazette notification was issued by the Delhi government that made dengue a notifiable diseases under the Epidemic Diseases Act. The notification had also stated that “no person shall occupy a new building unless an occupation certificate is obtained from the controlling officer of the respective local body regarding the requirement of anti-mosquito systems in such premises.”

The notification was to be followed by a detailed guideline and regulations for builders and building owners but the measure has not been implemented for over three years now.

“There are several such provisions in regulations issued in Daman and Diu (in 2016) as well as Goa. Regulations such as a prescribed minimum slope level on roofs to prevent water stagnation, and mosquito proofing of water tank covers and drains connecting water sources, among others, need to be standardised,” an MCD public health department official said.