Over 60,000 house visits to check mosquito-breeding sites
Thursday, 20 July 2017 00:00
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The Hindu 20.07.2017 Over 60,000 house visits to check mosquito-breeding sites Real
picture:The brackish waters of the Poisar river make for an ideal
breeding ground for mosquitoes.Rajendra GawankarRajendra Gawankar BMC issued 8,744 notices, collected Rs. 20,04,600 in fines Days
after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) issued a notice to NGO
Praja Foundation for alleged misinterpretation of facts in its latest
health report, which claimed that dengue cases have seen a massive rise
of 265% in Mumbai in the last five years, the civic body on Wednesday
released information on the action it had taken to check the spread of
dengue. The BMC said that the Public Health Department had
conducted inspections to check breeding places for the disease spreading
mosquitoes from January 1 to July 15, this year. As per the report, the
BMC made 62,43,597 house visits during these past six months and issued
8,744 notices to owners of premises with unprotected water tanks,
wells, fountains and so on. It collected Rs. 20,04,600 in fines from
notices issued for not adhering to safety standards. “There were
7,586 places where the larva of Aedes Agypti, also known as the yellow
fever mosquito, one that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika
fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses. In 2,674 places, the BMC team
found larvae of the malaria causing Anopheles mosquitoes. These breeding
sites have now been eliminated,” Dr. Rajan Naringrekar, pesticide
officer of the BMC, said. The BMC also appealed to the citizens of
Mumbai to destroy all useless scrap material like tyres, thermocol,
coconut remains and plastic as water is stored in them and they become
breeding grounds for infectious mosquitoes. It takes eight days
for the larva to turn into mosquitoes, hence the BMC has said that water
should not be stored for more than seven days in utensils or other
storage places and people should ensure that water tanks are cleaned
every week. On July 13, deputy municipal commissioner (public
health), Sunil Dhamne and executive health officer, BMC, Dr. Padmaja
Keskar had issued a notice to NGO Praja Foundation for its report ‘State
of Health of Mumbai,’ saying that the same ‘misinterpreted’ facts and
was ‘misleading’ and was an attempt to malign the image of the civic
body. The NGO, a watchdog of civic affairs, had in its report released
on July 12, claimed that dengue cases have spiralled from 4,867 in
2012-13 to 17,771 in 2016-17. In the notice issued on Friday, the
BMC said, “It appears from the report that the whole aim of the exercise
has been to malign the public body and mislead the citizens at large.”
The BMC threatened action against the NGO if a public clarification is
not issued by them. “It seems that you have done random collection of
data from health facilities and added it, making it vague,” it stated.
‘e-rickshaws’ likely to make trash collection easy and clean
Monday, 17 July 2017 11:29
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The Hindu 17.07.2017 ‘e-rickshaws’ likely to make trash collection easy and clean Officials conducted a trial run in some areas in Tirupati, planning for 50 vehicles The
manual door-to-door waste collection and segregation in the temple city
might get a ‘smart’ makeover! The Municipal Corporation of Tirupati
(MCT) is planning to introduce electric vehicles, 'e-rickshaws', for the
purpose, combined with its ongoing dry and wet waste segregation
process. Speaking to The Hindu , MCT Commissioner Ch. Hari
Kiran said they would take a call after evaluating the performance of
the vehicles. “We have been approached by two companies and we called
them for a demonstration. Our main aim is to ensure a speedier
collection of garbage along with the concept of segregating dry and wet
waste. As some of the recyclable waste is going to the dumpyards, we
would like to address the issue and transfer the same to dry waste
collection centres and subsequently put them for a better use,” he
added. The officials inspected the vehicles on Sunday and
conducted a trial run in the Balaji Colony, Police Quarters and Prakasam
Road areas. Currently, municipal workers are using three-wheeler carts for collecting and segregating waste. Introduction
of the vehicles would not only ease the burden of the workers but also
enable them reach inaccessible lanes of the temple city. The officials
are planning to introduce about 50 vehicles. Features A
representative from the Coimbatore-based Priyam Industries and
Engineering Ltd. A.M. Venkatachalapathy, who displayed the vehicle at
the Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) office on Saturday,
spoke to The Hindu on the features of the electric vehicle. Retrofitted
with the trademark red and green waste bins of the MCT, the vehicle can
carry a load of 250 kg and can be upgraded to 500kg. It requires three
units of power for full charge and can cover a distance of 60 km, with a
maximum speed of 30 kmph. Based on the requirements of the MCT,
Mr. Venkatachalapathy said, the vehicles could be fitted with GPS for
tracking their movement. Meanwhile, the MCT officials have found a
unique solution for the early morning chores of pilgrims visiting the
temple city, by integrating the features of the Information and
Communication Technology (ICT). Mapping of facilities With
the help of a team from the Quality Control India, New Delhi, the
officials have mapped the locations of public/community toilets and
uploaded the same via Google Maps, particularly at the transit points. In
addition to this, details of the government and private hospitals,
shopping malls and complexes, petrol pumps, restaurants etc., (a total
of 65 locations) have also been uploaded for the benefit of the numerous
devotees visiting the temple city.
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Auctioning of stray cattle to enrich corporation’s coffers
Monday, 17 July 2017 11:23
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The Hindu 17.07.2017 Auctioning of stray cattle to enrich corporation’s coffers Constant
menace:Stray cattle have been causing severe traffic disruption even on
main roads in Kozhikode city.S. Ramesh KurupS_RAMESHKURUP;S_RAMESHKURUP
- Health department on a mission to impound animals roaming on city streets The
Kozhikode Municipal Corporation has chanced upon a new means of income.
The health department of the corporation is on a mission to capture
cattle roaming on the streets and impound them so that they can be
auctioned off. “It was only two months ago that we auctioned off
three buffaloes, adding Rs. 45,000 to the civic body’s exchequer,” said
Health Officer R.S. Gopakumar. It was almost a month ago that an
unusual number of cattle started roaming on the city streets, causing
severe traffic disruption even on main roads. The corporation had formed
a dedicated squad a year ago to capture the stray cattle. The drive at
the time had earned the corporation around Rs. 80,000 in terms of fine
from owners who had let their cattle wander and also through auctioning
off the unclaimed ones. The team has in its custody six oxen, one
cow, five calves and some goats at present. All cattle will be auctioned
48 hours after capture. Those turning up claiming to be the
owners will have to produce documents of ownership, an attested letter
from the local councillor, proof of identity and a written affidavit
that they will not let their cattle wander in the future. This is
besides the fine they will have to pay to get the animals back. The
Health Officer said the animals were rarely claimed and the corporation
could earn up to Rs. 5 lakh from the auction of cattle wandering the
streets at present.
Government to appoint over 47 urban health volunteers
Monday, 17 July 2017 11:02
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The Hindu 17.07.2017 Government to appoint over 47 urban health volunteers The demand for mosquito bats is on the rise following an increase in dengue and fever-related cases in Mysuru.M.A. SRIRAM They will be deployed in taluks where there is high incidence of dengue The
Health Department has decided to appoint over 47 urban health
volunteers (UHVs) to contain the spread of dengue and other vector-borne
diseases in the district. Chidambar, District Vector-Borne Diseases Officer, told The Hindu
on Sunday that over 47 urban health volunteers who have passed the
health inspectors’ course, will be recruited on a temporary basis and
deployed to three taluks where there is a high incidence of dengue and
other fever cases. The UHVs will be hired under the National health
mission. Initially, their services will be availed for three months from
July, he said. The selection of UHVs will be over by Monday. They
will be given a three-day training. The UHVs will visit all the houses
in a locality and identify people suffering from fever for more than
three days. If there are large number of people suffering from fever for
more than three days, the UHVs will not only inform the higher ups in
the health department but also shift the people to the government
hospital nearby and sensitise the public about the disease, Mr.
Chidambar said. They will also conduct surveillance and search for
mosquito larvae in these localities. The UHVs will take steps to
eradicate mosquito breeding in the entire areas. Of the 47 UHVs,
43 will be deployed in Mysuru city, two each will be deployed at Hunsuru
town and Nanjangudu where a large number of dengue suspected cases have
been reported of late. The department has already formed rapid response
teams and deployed them in many places like Mahadevapura in Mysuru
taluk to fight dengue. The Health Department is finding it hard to fight
dengue with the existing staff and hence took permission to deploy
UHVs. Three more die Meanwhile three more persons
died in fever-related incidents in Mysuru district in the past week.
With this total number of deaths owing to fever-related cases is 16. The
department has provided instructions to medical officers who had
treated the three deceased. Soon, the district death audit committee
would meet once more to assess the exact cause for the deaths,
Mr.Chidambar said. Blood tests of over 2,080 people have been
conducted so far in the district in the past two and half months. Of
these, 347 were found to be dengue positive.
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