CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court on Thursday pulled up the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) over its failure to curb the mosquito menace in the city, saying the civic body refuses to wake up from “deep and blissful slumber” on the pressing issue.
The special bench constituted by Chief Justice Chakradhari Sharan Singh recently for adjudicating on PILs concerning civic problems was hearing on mosquito menace. The division bench of Justice SK Sahoo and Justice V Narasingh said, “Mosquito menace is a persistent all-season civic problem of Cuttack city and it is responsible for serious diseases like malaria, dengue etc. A sensitive civil administration should have an effective eradication programme in place year-round and if the Corporation refuses to wake up from its deep and blissful slumber, it would cause health hazards.”
The advocates committee formed to assist the court had expressed concern over growing mosquito menace in the city and stated that the measures taken by the CMC are insufficient to check the problem and some urgent effective measures are to be taken in this respect. The drains are choked which has resulted in the rise in mosquito population.
The Corporation has failed to carry out proper bush cutting operation which is contributing in a large measure for the breeding of mosquitoes, the committee informed.
The bench ordered that there should be effective monitoring of the exercise undertaken by the CMC for eradication of mosquito menace. It directed that the supervisors of each ward shall upload the data relating to sprinkling of mosquito larvicide oil and temephos larvicide in their respective wards in the central database on daily basis. Mosquito density of each area has to be measured after such sprinkling on a weekly basis, it ordered.
“Necessary instruction in this regard shall be imparted by the commissioner, Cuttack Municipal Corporation,” the bench added in the May 9 order.
The court had earlier on May 2 asked the CMC to file an affidavit indicating in which areas, steps have been taken for sprinkling mosquito larvicide oil in stagnant water in drains and temephos larvicide on the campus and latrine area of each household.
The affidavit should have documents showing the signatures of the respective households being covered.
Accordingly, the CMC commissioner had filed an affidavit on Thursday stating that such steps have been started in ward no 5 and ward no 41. The CMC has 59 wards.