Team Herald
VASCO: The Mormugao Municipal Council has decided to demolish the illegal hutments erected in a property at Bhute Bhat in Baina to accommodate construction labourers.
The decision has been taken in view of spread of dengue in the locality with local suspecting that the unhygienic condition and lack of proper sanitation around the hutments occupied by the construction labourers could be the main reason behind spread of dengue in the area.
At least six locals including five females and a 10-year-old girl from Bhute Bhat have been tested positive for dengue in the last one week.
According to sources, soon after receiving complaints of spread of dengue in Bhute Bhat residential area, Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida along with MMC Chairperson Deepak Naik, Health officer of Vasco urban health centre Rashmi Khandeparkar and other MMC officials inspected the site on Friday.
The inspecting team noticed hutments erected in the middle of residential area, on a property belonging to a builder, to accommodate construction labourers.
It was also noticed that besides the hutments, even the area surrounding to the open toilets used by these labourers were under unhygienic condition posing high risk to the labourers as well as locals.
The locals complained that though they have maintained hygiene in their surroundings, the construction labourers were least bothered about maintain hygiene and cleanliness which in turned triggered spread of dengue fever in the area.
“Last week we received information that about 20 labourers out of 50-odd labourers suffered vector borne disease and they all left to their native village and between Monday and Thursday, six people including five females and a 10-year-old girl have been tested positive for dengue, which is serious and we therefore have demanded that these unhygienic hutments which has been posing risk to our lives should be demolished,” said Bernard Fernades, a local.
from Bhute Bhat whose daughter has been tested positive for dengue.
Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida said that on visiting the Bhute Bhat locality, he was completely surprised at how unhygienic the locality was.
He said that he has issued instructions to MMC as well as health officials to take immediate preventive steps to control dengue in Bhute Bhat. He said that there was no proper sanitation maintained by the labourers occupying the hutments.
MMC Chairperson Deepak Naik informed that he would not tolerate such menace created by construction labourers in a residential locality. He said that since the health officer has already asked the MMC to take action against the hutments, he has issued instructions to the municipal engineers to give their inspection report and demolish these hutments without any notice and the same was built without the permission of MMC.
