HUBBALLI: Many open sites in the city have literally become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, pigs and stray animals. People residing near such open sites blame the authorities for not taking steps to maintain them.
For many years, the open site issue has remained unsolved by civic authorities and elected representatives. The civic authorities, which assure people of initiating action to maintain cleanliness, have failed to keep their word.
When TOI contacted the zonal officers, they said there's no specific survey to analyze the number of open sites, and most owners of open sites are not available. Most owners are said to be outside the country. This is the main reason for which action against the owners is hampered.
Ashok Nagar, Raj Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Gokul Road, Keshwapur, Old Hubballi and few other areas are prime examples of this problem.
Maltesh, in-charge of the HDMC 24x7 control room, said: "Normally, we don't take specific complaints about open sites. But we do get complaints about mosquitoes, pigs, dogs and stray cattle regularly." In November, the control room received 41 complaints about the mosquito menace, 209 about stray dogs and 17 complaints about the pig menace and officers initiated action immediately.
Dr Prabhu Biradar, health officer, HDMC, said the open sites do pose a threat to residents who live near open sites. He added that the HDMC commissioner had ordered cleaning of the open sites by using JCBs and billed it to the owners. But due to non-availability of proper names and addresses of the owners, that's getting hampered. In Hubballi-Dharwad, at many open sites cleaning was done using JCBs and manpower, but unable to charge the expenses to the owner during tax collection, he added.
Whenever something goes wrong due to the spread of mosquito-borne diseases and others, the civic bodies start discussing over open sites, but when the situation is normal, everything remains as it is and there's no permanent solution, said Samarth Bhat, a resident of Vijay Nagar.
For many years, the open site issue has remained unsolved by civic authorities and elected representatives. The civic authorities, which assure people of initiating action to maintain cleanliness, have failed to keep their word.
When TOI contacted the zonal officers, they said there's no specific survey to analyze the number of open sites, and most owners of open sites are not available. Most owners are said to be outside the country. This is the main reason for which action against the owners is hampered.
Ashok Nagar, Raj Nagar, Vijay Nagar, Gokul Road, Keshwapur, Old Hubballi and few other areas are prime examples of this problem.
Maltesh, in-charge of the HDMC 24x7 control room, said: "Normally, we don't take specific complaints about open sites. But we do get complaints about mosquitoes, pigs, dogs and stray cattle regularly." In November, the control room received 41 complaints about the mosquito menace, 209 about stray dogs and 17 complaints about the pig menace and officers initiated action immediately.
Dr Prabhu Biradar, health officer, HDMC, said the open sites do pose a threat to residents who live near open sites. He added that the HDMC commissioner had ordered cleaning of the open sites by using JCBs and billed it to the owners. But due to non-availability of proper names and addresses of the owners, that's getting hampered. In Hubballi-Dharwad, at many open sites cleaning was done using JCBs and manpower, but unable to charge the expenses to the owner during tax collection, he added.
Whenever something goes wrong due to the spread of mosquito-borne diseases and others, the civic bodies start discussing over open sites, but when the situation is normal, everything remains as it is and there's no permanent solution, said Samarth Bhat, a resident of Vijay Nagar.
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