Sachin Ahir, NCP leader

Former minister of state and NCP leader Sachin Ahir met civic chief Ajoy Mehta on Thursday and demanded the formation of special teams to counter the spread of leptospirosis and dengue in the city.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday had asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corportation (BMC) to tackle the disease on a war footing. Mr Ahir met Mr Mehta and apprised him of the areas where action is needed the most.

An NCP party leader who had accompanied Mr Ahir said the delegation stressed on three issues, namely the number of deaths due to leptospirosis, dengue and chikungunya in the city, relaxing the norms for hutments and increasing the permissible height by a foot, and filling up potholes.

The former housing minister wanted the BMC to set up additional centres for testing and treating patients with symptoms of leptospirosis, dengue and chikungunya.

“We provided data of areas where people were more prone to diseases and offered to help the corporation to curb the spread of diseases,” said Mr Ahir, adding that Mr Mehta assured him that steps were being taken to abide by the court’s recommendations.

Mr Ahir further said that owing to the seven-feet height limit, it was difficult for dwellers to reside in hut, and so he requested Mr Mehta to consider increasing the height by a foot. “Mr Mehta said that increasing the permissible limits was under the purview of the government and hence he would forward our suggestions to the department concerned,” said Mr Ahir.

The NCP leader further said he had challenged the municipal commissioner about the number of potholes, which was pegged at only 34.