By Dilanthi Jayamanne
The Environment Police have identified over 160 abandoned houses and lands in the Colombo District and are attempting to locate the owners of those places.
The spokesman of the Health Ministry said yesterday that those places provide breeding grounds for mosquitoes as neighbours often make use of the unoccupied lands for their garbage disposal.
The Health Ministry said there were many more lands and houses in the Colombo District which were unoccupied as owners had either shifted or were abroad. The spokesman said that information was being gathered with assistance from the Environmental Police.
The total number of dengue deaths recorded by the Epidemiology Unit of the Health Ministry, from the beginning of January till the end of last month, was 30. 8,917 dengue cases were recorded within the same period. The highest number of dengue patients had been recorded from the Colombo District (2,235) and Gampaha District (1,669).
The Environmental Police could not be contacted for comment.
Meanwhile the Colombo Municipal Council, Public Health Department said they had already carried out a survey within city limits. Chief of the Department Dr. Pradeep Kariyawasam said there were approximately 108 bare lands within the city. The Council carried out inspections and identified the number of houses and lands which were vacant. The details had been handed over to the Environmental Police. There were several lands where the owners could not be identified. Some of them were still registered under the names of their first owners although they had been sold. The new owners had either shifted and could not be traced or they were abroad, he said.
Dr. Kariyawasam said that the neighbours made use of those lands as garbage dumps which had led to the mosquito menace in and around those areas.
The owners of lands and houses that had been traced had been notified while the Environmental police and the PHD had cleared some of them. The PHD would carry out follow up inspections to ensure that they had been cleaned, Kariyawasam added.
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