Last August, it was revealed that the number of dengue cases in the city had more than doubled. In April, there were 23 confirmed cases. By the middle of May, the count had reached 53. Authorities responding to the problem had said the cases were limited to the fringe areas. But this year, over 150 families in Baner have found themselves right in the middle of what they said is a crisis.A sewage spill near the Sahyadri Farms housing society has stagnated and what’s visible is a thick ooze, surrounded by tall shrubs — a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.“We cannot leave the doors open even for a few seconds,” said Angad Ghule, a businessman who owns a bungalow within the Sahyadri Farms’ premises. “All my rooms now have mosquito nets. We also have to keep mosquito repellants turned on the entire day, which could harm our health,” he said.The source of the sewage spill remains unclear. Residents insisted there used to be a water body running through the site. There are, however, no signs of it.“We never had drainage water collecting here. But that has changed over the past few four months. Today, we can’t even sit in our gardens without being swarmed by mosquitoes,” said Suyog Bhatkalkar, an IT professional who has been recovering from a bout of dengue he contracted some months ago. “And despite several complaints, there has been absolutely no response from the PMC,” he added.Residents said they had lodged the complaints via the PMC’s app. But they were met with a confounding reply. “My complaint was closed without any help from the PMC, which stated that it is a ‘long-term project’. How can that be an answer? Don’t we deserve to know what’s happening here? Importantly, how can officials declare a complaint closed without resolving it? When I rang up officials, I was told collection of sewage here was becaused of drainage water that had been released upstream. But the absolute minimum they can do is clean up the mess. We are facing a health crisis here,” said Pravin Bhadane, the chairman of the Sahyadri Farms housing society.In 2018, as many as 200 cases of dengue were reported from private hospitals and sentinel centres across the city between January and June. Year 2019 too is showing signs of a worrisome start. As many as 70 persons have tested positive for dengue in the city so far this year. The recorded number of dengue cases has grown considerably ever since the civic body began collating data from private hospitals. Earlier, the PMC would collect disease data only from the government-run Sassoon hospital and PMC-run health centres.Meanwhile, at Sahyadri Farm s, normal life remains disrupted. “Even the breeze is of no relief. It only carries the stench from the sewage into our homes,” said Ghule.In his response to TOI, Sandip Kadam, the Aundh ward officer said, personnel would be deployed to inspect the site. “We will check the area and initiate necessary action to remove or destroy mosquito breeding spots.”

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