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New Delhi: The civic body responsible for the upkeep of the capital zone is out to punish the ruling class for letting their huge bungalows become breeding grounds for the deadly dengue mosquitoes.
The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), which looks after the 42.5 square kilometre capital zone has issued about 400 notices and imposed monetary penalties on about 75 people. Those under its radar include the who's who of national politics.
Federal Ministers Ram Vilas Paswan, Arjun Singh and Saifuddin Soz are among those found guilty, while several other occupants refused to let the NDMC inspectors enter their premises or simply used their position by threatening them with suspension from their jobs for harassing them.
"There is no question of harassment. This just part of the exercise to make people understand how they may be playing havoc with the public health," explained an NDMC inspector.
The freak monsoon in the capital this year is also to be blamed for the situation. Unlike in the past, people have not dried out desert coolers so far. Delhi witnessed one of the wettest May in many years when it is supposed to be the peak of summer and a near dry July when it is expected to rain heavily.
Interestingly, while the VIPs, which include federal ministers, lawmakers and senior bureaucrats, live in air-conditioned rooms, their personal and office staff have to make do with desert coolers. Civic authorities recommend that either these coolers are dried out before onset of monsoon or a couple of tablespoons of kerosene or petrol be added on the weekly basis to prevent mosquitoes use the water to breed.
Besides desert coolers, overhead water tanks, which are not cleaned on a regular basis, are also used for breeding by mosquitoes.
Interestingly, the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), which is responsible for maintaining these huge colonial-era bungalows, is also amongst the culprit as some of their offices have also received notices from the NDMC.
List of culprits
Besides the three ministers, Sena Bhawan (headquarters of the Army), guest houses of state governments, some top industrialists of the country and the two top government hospitals of the capital, namely the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Safdarjung Hospital, also figure in the list of culprits.
Various hospitals have reported a surge in dengue cases this year and a general warning has been issued to the public.
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