Pune: Swarms of mosquitoes bring sickness to fringes

PUNE: Residents of the newly merged villages within the municipal limits of Pune and their surrounding localities are living under constant fear of contracting mosquito-borne diseases.

The villages include Lohegaon, Mundhwa, Sadesatranali, Shivne, Uttamnagar, Ambegaon Khurd, Undri, Dhayri, Ambegaon Budruk, Phursungi and Uruli Devachi
Despite a severe mosquito menace, health authorities of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) have yet to initiate measures to check the spread , many residents said.
The landscape of these 11 merged villages which are already crumbling under poor infrastructure is dotted with half complete or ongoing construction sites where water stagnation is a fitting ground for mosquito breeding.
All these villages have witnessed a significant growth in population and commercial activities in the last few years. However, water scarcity in these areas continues to be erratic prompting storage which also provides for the mosquitoes to breed.
“It has been almost two years that 11 fringe areas and villages were merged with the PMC. However, people living here are completely neglected. Piling up of garbage, construction activities and water scarcity are the reasons for the mosquitoes,” Shrirang Chavan, president of Haveli Taluka Nagarik Kruti Samiti, said. He is a resident of Dhayari which has been merged within the PMC limits along with Ambegaon Budruk.
Medical expert Mahadeo Kodre, general practitioner and a resident of Keshavnagar, said, “I have seen several cases of malaria and dengue from Keshavnagar and Mundhwa. People living along the Mula river in Kehavnagar, Mundhwa and Manjari are badly affected by mosquitoes owing to rampant growth of water hyacinth.”
The rampant growth of water hyacinth in the Mula and Mutha rivers is the reason for swarms of mosquitoes that invade housing societies posing a serious threat of mosquito-borne diseases.
“The rampant growth of hyacinth in the Mula river is the cause for mosquito breeding. There are some problems with the Mundhwa jackwell. Since the desired water level is not maintained, water is not released into the canal in Sadesatra Nali area on Pune-Solapur Road for non-drinking and agricultural purposes. The stagnation of water has led to rampant hyacinth . We are in the process of clearing the hyacinth,” public health expert Sanjeev Wavare said.
Kalpana Nivare, a resident of Sadesatranali, said, “There is no respite from mosquitoes in the area. Children keep falling sick and mosquito repellents are of no use.”
Bhagwan Bhadale, a resident of Phursungi-Uruli Decachi, said, “ We are living under a constant fear of contracting dengue, malaria and chikungunya.”