KMC to act tough against owners of plots which have become mosquito breeding grounds

Kolkata: With the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) receiving complaints that a pond inside the godown premises of the state Food and Supplies department is lying ill maintained and has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, the civic body is sending a notice to the department and is planning to release Guppy fish inside the waterbody to conserve it.

A resident of ward 87, near Lake Gardens flyover, called Mayor Firhad Hakim on Friday during the Talk to Mayor event and complained that residents living near the godown are in fear that soon there could be a dengue or malaria outbreak because the pond inside the godown premises has turned green due to algal bloom. He said that it is ill maintained and has become a breeding ground of mosquitoes. Hakim ordered the health department officials to send a notice to the Food and Supplies department. He said when he was in charge of the Housing department, he had urged the Food and Supplies department to hand over the plot so that there could be some development done, including building houses for the poor, but it could not materialise. He admitted that the premises are bereft of any maintenance work.

The Mayor ordered that a notice be sent to them and a copy of it be sent to Municipal Commissioner Binod Kumar. Hakim said KMC will clean the pond and send the bill of cleaning charges to the department. He said after cleaning, KMC may release Guppy fish there to avoid any mosquito breeding.

The Mayor promised action after receiving a call from a resident of 210 B Diamond Harbour Road who said a vacant plot near his residence is lying ill maintained and has become full with vegetation.