THE TIMES OF INDIA, MUMBAI FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016 5TIMES CITY

Mumbai: As many as 20 cases ofleptospirosis have been reported inthe city since January, even beforethe monsoon has begun. The bacte-rial disease, transmitted from ani-mals, had wreaked havoc and sentthe civic administration into a tizzylast July after 16 deaths were repor-ted in a span of two weeks.

BMC’s executive health officerDr Padmaja Keskar said that thereis nothing to be alarmed as the ca-ses have come to light only becauseof better surveillance.

“Wading through contaminatedwater is the commonest route oftransmission, but not the only one.The bacteria can infect even if the-re is a breach in the skin or infectedwater is splashed in the eye,” she sa-id. There have been no deaths so farthis year.

“It is a precursor to what willhappen in the monsoon if sewage

and disposal practices are not cor-rected,” said Dr Om Srivastava, aninfectious disease consultant.

The city’s animal shelters willparticularly be under close surveil-lance this monsoon, Keskar said.“This year, we will be prosecutingthe shelter owners if we find thatcattle has not been treated for lepto-spirosis. They have been given amp-le time,” she said.

After last year’s outbreak, theBMC had tested the samples frommore than 200 cattle sheds and fo-und out about the bacteria leptospi-ra’s thriving presence. The TamilNadu Veterinary and Animal Sci-ences University, which tested theurine samples, found that around25% were positive for the bacteria.The infection spreads when thecattle’s contaminated urine or ex-creta gets mixed with water duringmonsoon and people wade throughthem. The shelter owners were sub-sequently told to treat their cattle.

The BMC also plans to keep thedomestic pet owners on their toes.The civic health department hadappealed to citizens last year to gettheir pets treated or vaccinated af-ter two rare serogroups of leptospi-rosis were found responsible for atleast 50% of the deaths in 2015. Me-dical literature shows that the raresergroups, Tarassovi and Djasmin,can be transmitted by pigs, rats, go-ats and even dogs.

A senior veterinary doctor toldTOI that vaccination is not enoughand pet owners should get their ani-mals treated. “The lepto vaccineprotects against four serogroupsonly, while there are about 23 broadserogroups. The best option is totreat them or at least get themchecked as many may not have anysymptoms,” a doctor said. Civic chi-ef Ajoy Mehta has instructed mul-tiple departments to work with thehealth department and preventanother outbreak this monsoon.

Crackdown On Shelter Owners Who Don’t Treat Their Cattle

Mumbai sees 20 lepto cases ahead of rainsINFECTION TALLY

Bacterial infection caused by the or-ganism Leptospira. People contract the infection while wading through water contaminat-ed with the urine of infected animals

LEPTOSPIROSIS

SYMPTOMSHigh fever, headache, muscle pain, redness in eyes, rashes

THE 2015 OUTBREAK16 patients died of leptospirosis in a span of two

weeks in July with maximum casualties being reported from the western suburbs. Pigs, rats, goats and

even dogs are known to be the carriers of the deadly strains

Diseases 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012

Leptospirosis | 20 | Nil | 176 | 19 | 79 | 4 | 233 | 3 | 327 | 3

Malaria | 1,205 | Nil | 7,517 | 16 | 9,068 | 18 | 10,565 | 30 | 16,086 | 45

Dengue | 87 | Nil | 919 | 8 | 861 | 12 | 927 | 11 | 1,008 | 5

H1N1 | 2 | Nil | 3,029 | 52 | 11 | 1 | 77 | 1 | 360 | 5

Gastro | 3,195 | 11,031 | 11,046 | 12,623 | 12,287

organism Leptospira

CASES DEATHS

(Source: BMC)

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: For chief ministerDevendra Fadnavis, it was amajor embarrassment after a“trusted aide” of controversialrevenue minister EknathKhadse was caught allegedlydemanding a Rs 30-crore bribefrom a former director of a ma-nagement institute. Khadse,the CM-in-waiting since Fadna-vis took over the reins in 2014, isnot alone. More than half a do-zen high-profile cabinet mem-bers of the BJP governmentare locked in controversies.

“Cabinet members are faci-ng charges of corruption, irregularities, procedural lapsesand large-scale favours resul-ting in loss to the state chequer.We never expected that eversince Fadnavis took over, sucha large number of cabinetmembers would be at the recei-ving end,” a BJP leader said.

Congress spokesperson Sa-chin Sawant said though thespecific instances of irregula-rities and corruption were bro-ught to the CM’s notice, no cor-rective measures were taken.“We feel the chief minister isprotecting the erring cabinetmembers,” Sawant said.

Last year, minister for wo-man and child developmentPankaja Munde was locked in arow over the supply of chikki toschoolchildren. Then it was al-leged that either the norms forfloating tenders were flouted orthere were irregularities in thechikki supply process. TheCongress even lodged a comp-laint with the ACB demandinga probe in the tendering pro-cess. Though Munde was notinvolved in the episode, thechikki scam caused a huge dentto the government’s image.

Then came the pulses scam

and food and civil supplies mi-nister Girish Bapat was at thereceiving end for inept hand-ling of the situation. While theMumbai Grahak Panchayat,led by Shirish Deshmukh, alle-ged there was a multi-crorescam, Bapat did not act againstthe erring traders, resulting inthe prices spiralling in the openmarket. The Fadnavis govern-ment stepped in only after theNDA government asked it to ta-ke on the traders.

Higher and technical edu-cation minister Vinod Tawdewas locked in a row over hiseducation qualifications, mul-tiple director identification nu-mber and his membership on aboard of a leading firm. NCPspokesperson Nawab Malikhad submitted that Tawde mis-led the election commission

over his educational qualifica-tions; though the varsity wasnot recognised, Tawde said hewas an engineering graduate.

Water resources ministerGirish Mahajan, too, was accu-sed of granting a massive hiketo an irrigation project in theVidarbha region—the originalproject cost stood at Rs 92 crore,while the revised cost was Rs716 crore. Then Fadnavis hadcome to Mahajan’s rescue say-ing that as such a huge amountwas spent on the project, the ca-binet should approve the revi-sed amount for completion ofthe project. Malik claimed thatwhen the BJP was in Opposi-tion, it had raised the issue ofmassive cost escalation in irri-gation projects, but now whenit in power, the party was follo-wing the same policy.

Over half a dozen ministersin state battle various charges

➤ Eknath Khadse,revenue minister |His ‘aide’ Gajanan Patil has been

arrested for allegedly seeking `30-cr bribe from a former director of a management institute

➤ Pankaja Munde, minister for woman and child development | She was locked in a row over chikki contracts worth `206cr

for schoolkids being cleared by her department in a single day. The Opposition

claimed the department should have called for tenders as per rules

➤ Chandrashekhar Bawankule,energy minister | His department allegedly granted favours to a Konkan power firm

resulting in a loss of `572cr to state exchequer

➤ Girish Bapat, food and civil supplies minister |

Despite being informed of a multi-crore pulses

scam, he allegedly did not act against

the erring traders, resulting in the prices spiralling

➤ Vinod Tawde, higher & technical education minister |He was locked in a row over his education qualifications, multiple director identification number and his membership on a board of a leading firm

➤ Girish Mahajan, water resources minister | He allegedly granted a massive hike to an irrigation project in Vidarbha; the cost jumped from `92cr to `716cr

A FEW OF THE CONTROVERSIES Prafulla.Marpakwar@timesgroup.com

Parents of deceased TV actor Pra-tyusha Banerjee (24) moved theSupreme Court on Thursday,

seeking cancellation of anticipatorybail granted to her boyfriend RahulRaj Singh, who has been accused of abetment.

The Bombay high court had gran-ted anticipatory bail to Rahul onApril 25. Pratyusha, who shot to famefor her role as Anandi in ‘Balika Vad-hu’, was found hanging inside her flatin Goregaon on April 1.

Two days later, a case under IPCSections 306 (abetment of suicide),504, 506 (criminal intimidation), 323(voluntarily causing hurt) was regis-

tered against Rahul following a comp-laint lodged by her parents. Challeng-ing the HC order, the parents told a

the police must take him into custodyand interrogate him to find out thetruth behind their daughter’s death.

They contended that the ongoingprobe would be hampered if Rahul re-mained out on bail as he would try totamper with evidence and influencewitnesses. They told the bench thatthe Bombay high court erred in gran-ting anticipatory bail to the main ac-cused in the case. After a brief hea-ring, the bench agreed to examine theissue and posted the case for hearingon May 30. The parents contendedthat the sessions court had correctlyrejected Rahul’s anticipatory bail butthe police did not arrest him for over aweek and allowed the accused to app-roach the HC to get relief.

bench of Justice A M Sapre and Justi-ce Ashok Bhushan that her daughterwas killed by Rahul. They said that

Pratyusha death: SC agrees to hear pleafor cancelling Rahul’s bail on May 30

Actor Pratyusha Banerjeeis found dead in her flat in Goregaon on April 1 by her live-in partner Rahul Raj Singh

The police claim Rahul left the flat around 3.30 pm on April 1 and at 3:43pm the couple spoke over the phone. Pratyusha is said to have told Rahul about her intention to end her life during the call

Two days later, a case under IPC sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 504, 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntar-ily causing hurt) is registered against Rahul following a com-plaint lodged by Pratyusha’s parents. They also claim Rahul may have bumped her off

The HC grants anticipatory bail to Rahul on April 25

TRAGIC END TO A PROMISING LIFETIMES NEWS NETWORKMumbai: An ailing 80-year-

old woman was rescuedfrom a house filled with he-aps of garbage in Mulund. Itrequired eight trucks to cle-ar the debris piling on therefor about eight years, the po-lice said on Thursday.

Acting on a call made bythe housing society on Sa-turday to the police, compla-ining of foul smell from thehouse, the police entered thepremises and were surpri-sed to find an old woman ly-ing on a bed amid the hugeheaps of garbage.

“When we entered thehouse, we were aghast tofind heaps of debris all aro-

und in three rooms of the2,000 sq ft house. Most shock-ing, an 80-year old womanwas on a bed in the middle ofthat debris,” an officer atMulund police station said.

“We could not find theway to enter the roomsblocked with debris all aro-und. We had to break the do-or from the backside to en-ter,” the officer said.

“We scolded her fourchildren (two sons and twodaughters) for putting theirmother's life at risk and as-ked municipal officers toclear the debris that seemsto have been piled up foreightto 10 years,” he said.

“The ailing woman wasadmitted to a nearby civichospital. We asked the socie-ty to call a pest control te-am,” he said. Thepolice war-ned the Savlas not to repeatsuch an act. AGENCIES

8 truckloads oftrash clearedfrom ailing srcitizen’s home

JUNK PILED UP INFLAT FOR 8-10 YRS

Mumbai: Two men and twowomen, all members of thesame family, were arrestedafter they manhandled poli-ce teams that had landed upat their residence in AndheriEast on Wednesday.

The police teams had rus-hed to the aid of a young mar-ried woman from the house-

hold who had dialled the poli-ce helpline ‘100’ and complai-ned about harassment.

The incident was repor-ted at Subhash Nagar Road.The police helpline receiveda call from the woman, Poo-nam Chavan, around 12.45pm. She said she was beingharassed by her relatives. TNN

4 held for manhandling cops

I, Manali Avinash Gokhalehave changed my name to Manali Nikhil Wadikar vide Maharashtra Gazette No. M-15103692

Mumbai: The anti-corruptionbureau (ACB) on Thursday mor-ning arrested Sanjay Khede-kar, a deputy secretary in thehome department which is hea-ded by chief minister DevendraFadnavis, for accepting Rs 5,000from a newly recruited constab-le’s father. The accusedwill be produced in co-urt on Friday.

Sources in the ACBsaid Khedekar had de-manded the bribe to cle-ar the file of a policeconstable who passed the examin 2014. The constable did not geta posting as he was facing a caseof ‘causing hurt’ registered in2011 at Qadeem police station,Jalna, his hometown. He was ac-quitted and became eligible forrecruitment after he presentedthe court papers. But Khedekardemanded Rs 20,000 to clear theconstable’s file. The complai-nant first paid Rs 10,000 and laterRs 4,000 to Khedekar, but his de-mands continued.

Fed up, the constable’s father

came to Mumbai from Jalna,met ACB officers on Wednesdayand filed a complaint. On Thurs-day, ACB officers were presentnear the main gate outsideMantralaya when Khedekar ar-rived and took Rs 5,000 from theconstable’s father. The team nab-bed him and took him to theACB headquarters at Worli.

Khedekar’s job was to finali-se the list of approvedcandidates to be recrui-ted. The job of a constab-le is in very high de-mand in the state, whichmakes Khedekar’s rolemore significant. Home

officials said he was working inthe department for close to threeyears.

Mantralaya gets around10,000-15,000 visitors every weekand most of them come from allparts of the state as their work isnot being done at the district le-vel. This makes them more vul-nerable to paying bribes to high-ranking officials in Mantralayawho claim they will get theirwork done.

(With inputs from BhavikaJain)

Dy secy in homedept arrested foraccepting bribe

➤ June 2, 2015 | Milind Kadam, legal assistant with the law and judiciary department at Mantralaya was arrested by the ACB after a Wardha-based lawyer complained he asked a bribe to clear his application for notary services to sell stamps

➤ May 9, 2015 | Bhimsen Tandel, a senior clerk in the home department, was caught by the

ACB while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a Navi Mumbai-based security agency owner

➤ June 13, 2014 | Sunil Shinde (42), a Mantralaya clerk and two agents Vinod Akhade (33) and Sunil Bansode (22), were arrested by the ACB for demanding a bribe to not take action against a ration shop owner

CORRUPTION AT SEAT OF POWER

Mateen.Hafeez@timesgroup.com