Work on the building, which was to be 22 storeys tall, at Chandarvarkar Road, Borivli (west), has ground to a halt for 18 long months, and this delay has transformed the pit into a breeding ground of mosquitoes, sparking off fears of a malaria epidemic in the area.

Residents of the seven-odd buildings that almost surround the plot say the situation is just ripe for a malaria outbreak to occur. ``The construction of the building has stopped for 18 months, and the pit is chock-full of filthy stagnant water,'' said B R Gupta, resident of the Jeevan Prabha Co-operative Housing Society, comprising 32 occupied flats.

The pit also receives a daily supply of dirty water from the adjoining slums and drains. Jeevan Prabha residents say the water logging even caused a portion of their boundary wall to collapse recently.

Several complaint letters havebeen shot off: to the civic health department late last year, to the pest control office early this year and to the conservancy department, but with no success.

The residents also complained to the deputy mayor, who then dashed off a letter to the ward officer on July 2 this year asking him to visit the site. But even the deputy mayor's intervention has failed to shame officialdom into visiting the site.

In fact, the ward officer of R/North ward, Anil Khoje, claimed he had received no complaints from residents. He, however, told Express Newsline that he would send his pest control staff to the site soon. ``We plan a monthly programme to cover all areas under our pest control drive,'' he added.

But residents insist that no civic officials or workers have come to the area to even survey the extent of the problem. Meanwhile, residents of the eight-storeyed Sagar Darshan have hit on quickie solutions like mosquito repellent products to combat the mosquitoes that swarm their flats every day. Almostall houses in the buildings have also put nets on their windows.

A recent study by the Rotary Club of Bombay in the city put Borivli high on the list of malaria-infected areas. Doctors in Borivli also state that malaria cases are rapidly on the rise in the area.