Metro fined Rs 3L in anti-vector drive

Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) slapped punitive charges of Rs 3 lakh on Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation, after finding mosquitoes breeding in 28 spots at metro construction sites in the city.
Bhavin Solanki, the AMC medical officer for health, health teams have been surveying the city found for more than a fortnight and they found several sites where mosquitoes were breeding on a large scale.The AMC kept issuing notices to GMRC, asking them to address the issue immediately.
According to AMC officials, neither the contractor concerned nor GMRC officials acted to clear these sites. On Tuesday, the authorities found mosquitoes breeding at several sites along the metro route from Vadaj to Motera.
The authorities issued a fresh notice and slapped punitive charges of Rs 3 lakh on GMRC.
A senior GMRC official said they had not received any notice for the payment of Rs 3 lakh. The official said they have asked the contractor concerned to ensure that citizens do not face any hardships and will ask the contractors to explain once the notice is received.
AMC officials said the density of mosquitoes in the city has been increasing in August. Between July and August last year, there was a fivefold rise in the density of mosquitoes, going from 2.33 to 10.81 in one month. Given the recent rain, the mosquito density in the city is bound to rise, officials said.