As the government and civic agencies claim to have gone all out to check spread of dengue, there are various spots in Delhi which negate all their claims. Huge tracts of vacant land lying unattended for years together with many turning into a swamp have become breeding grounds for the dengue vector.
In one such case, a large tract of marshy land behind Kalindi Colony has turned into a swamp putting residents at risk of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and malaria while the agencies concerned – the DDA, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and the Flood and Irrigation Department -- are busy shifting the responsibility.
What comes as a surprise is that the land has been lying vacant and has been water-logged as and when it rains for the past 25 years. The residents of Kalindi Colony say there have been cases of dengue and other deadly diseases but agencies are not addressing the real problem. The SDMC says it did not find any mosquito breeding in the swamp behind the colony.
It maintains that the vacant land has no mosquito breeding and that, in fact, residents were served legal notices for allowing breeding of mosquitoes inside their houses.
Having done the rounds of all agencies concerned, this time around the Kalindi Residents Welfare Association moved the National Green Tribunal after which SDMC carried out an inspection and fogging in the area. However, it is too little, too late.
“The real problem is this vacant land which turns marshy with every rain. The real solution is the development of this land. Fogging was carried out in the area after we moved the NGT but the land continues to be a marshy breeding ground for disease causing mosquitoes,” said RWA president Bhupinder Singh Taneja.
“The problem of swampy and marshy vegetation and water accumulation on the said land/area behind the Kalindi Colony and nearby areas has been there for a period of more than 20 years now. It is now leading to spread of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya and malaria which is affecting the environment at large and the life of the residents. The civic agencies when approached indulge in blame game. However, the SDMC recently has taken few steps regarding fogging but these are inadequate,” says RWA’s counsel Umang Gupta.
Though the SDMC told the NGT that the land is being taken care of by various measures to prevent mosquito breeding, it shuns its responsibility in an affidavit wherein it says that the land is with the DDA and “therefore, SDMC has no role to play in its development”.
It also said that the drain flowing behind the colony is under the Irrigation and Flood Control Department and that “necessary cleaning work of the colony is being carried out regularly by the safai karamcharis deputed by the SDMC.”
The SDMC in an affidavit to the NGT has shunned responsibility and has said that the land is with the DDA and therefore, it has no role to play in its development
