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Public Health / Sanitation


‘NMMC must be proactive to help prevent dengue’

Friday, 24 October 2014 11:42 administrator
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The Times of India        24.10.2014  

‘NMMC must be proactive to help prevent dengue’

 

Navi Mumbai: While the civic body insists that there is no need to panic about the spread of dengue, the private hospitals advise caution. Going by the civic health department figures, there has been no suspected dengue cases in October so far and 18 cases in September (number of confirmed cases not available) this year.


General physician Dr Farah Ingle, who consults at MGM Hospital and Fortis Hospital in Vashi, said that in October alone around 200 cases have been confirmed at both hospitals. "Patients have been coming in with a low platelet count of around 7,000 to 8,000 (normal count is between 1.5 and 4.5 lakh)," she said. She blamed mosquito menace, heat and erratic rainfall for the rise in the number of dengue patients.

Clearing stagnant water is the first preventive step, she added. "The civic body should play a larger role and fumigation should be done frequently," she said.

Dr Sandeep Sonawane, specialist, internal medicine, at Sai Snehdeep Hospital in Koparkhairane said that in October almost 30 cases have been admitted to the hospital. "Climatic changes and the failure to control mosquito population are leading to increase in such cases," he said.

Dr Akshay Challani of Wockhardt Sterling Hospital in Vashi, said that there have been 22 dengue cases admitted in October.

An official from the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation health department said that the civic body has launched an awareness campaign to control the spread of dengue fever. "Fumigation, along with distribution of pamphlets, is being done regularly," said the official.

Civic chief health officer Deepak Paropkari was not available for comments. 

 

Local body takes up cleaning of pond

Friday, 24 October 2014 05:34 administrator
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The Hindu         24.10.2014 

Local body takes up cleaning of pond

The Kannur municipality on Thursday launched the cleaning of Chettiyarkulam, a pond spread over 70 cents of land at Thunoli area in the Parakkandy ward, as part of its mass cleaning campaign.

The local residents’ association had recently taken steps to renovate the pond that has been remaining abandoned for decades.

Municipal vice-chairman T.O. Mohanan inaugurated the cleaning work. Municipal workers joined the cleaning held in collaboration with the pond protection committee and the Thunoli Neighbourhood Residents’ Association. Nearly 50 residents took part in the cleaning work.

Once a spot frequented by local people for bathing and learning swimming, the pond had been left in a state of disuse and was treated as a garbage dump. The pond protection committee office-bearers said that they had plans to start swimming classes in the pond.

 

Civic bodies’ cleanliness drive extends to PWD, DSIIDC roads

Friday, 10 October 2014 07:22 administrator
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The Hindu         10.10.2014  

Civic bodies’ cleanliness drive extends to PWD, DSIIDC roads

Public roads, irrespective of the owning agencies, are being cleaned by the municipal corporations of Delhi as part of their sanitation drive under the Swachh Bharat campaign.

A senior North Delhi Municipal Corporation official said the civic body was covering areas that had been neglected earlier. Due to the additional coverage, the three municipal corporations have been able to increase their garbage collection by 20 per cent in the past 10 days.

“We are now reaching areas that we weren’t earlier. The road could be of the Public Works Department, the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation or any other agency. We are doing the sweeping as well as removing construction debris,” said the official.

Similar works are being carried out by the South and East civic bodies. “Cleaning all public roads is our duty under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act and we have been doing it in the past. Now, we have started removing debris from empty plots too,” said South Delhi Municipal Corporation Manish Gupta.

The civic bodies are also issuing challans against those responsible for insanitation.

SDMC has challaned DDA for dumping debris on a PWD road in Dwarka Sector-7. It imposed the penalty after removing the construction material from the spot

 

VMC chief for focus on STP work

Friday, 10 October 2014 07:19 administrator
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The Hindu          10.10.2014 

VMC chief for focus on STP work

Steps in place to ensure early completion of the project

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) Commissioner C. Hari Kiran on Thursday instructed authorities to take up construction of Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) works on priority basis and complete them at the earliest.

The Corporation is constructing seven STP’s at Ramalingeshwar Nagar, Ajitsinghnagar, Jakkampudi and Autonagar in the city under JNNURM funds.

Depending on the Million litres of water per day (MLD) capacity, the cost of each STP varies and for one MLD, it costs about Rs. 75 lakh, authorities said.

Of the seven STP’s, already one STP at Ramalingeshwarnagar and Ajitsinghnagar are functioning, and works of other STPs are underway, they claimed.

Capacity

After inspecting the civic works at Ramalingeshwarnagar plants, which are equipped with 20 MLD and 10 MLD capacities, Mr. Hari Kiran instructed the authorities to construct 500-metre-high compound walls around the plants to safeguard them from floods in the future.

When he enquired about the delay in completing the compound wall construction works, authorities attributed the same to water logging of the pits at the site owing to high water table.

However, the Commissioner directed the engineering authorities to pump out water from the pits using motors, according to a press release.

He further wanted the authorities to install gates and locking system to prevent unauthorised persons from entering the STP premises.

March 15 deadline

The Corporation authorities are working on completing the STP works before March 15, failing which there are apprehensions that funds from JNNURM would be blocked.

 

Garbage collection goes up by 20 per cent after October 2

Thursday, 09 October 2014 10:11 administrator
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The Hindu       09.10.2014        

Garbage collection goes up by 20 per cent after October 2

Malba , silt from drains is also being removed

Snapshots of politicians and officers posing with brooms after October 2 appears to be paying off, with garbage collection by the municipal corporations going up by about 20 per cent in the past week.

Swachh Bharat Mission

With the launch of the Union Government’s Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, the three Bharatiya Janata Party-led corporations have ramped up their routine trash-lifting work.

According to officials, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation’s average daily garbage collection has gone up from 2,800 metric tonnes to 3,500 MT; the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s from 2,700 MT to 3,500 MT; and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation’s from 2,000 MT to 2,700 MT.

Increased monitoring

North Corporation Commissioner Pravin Kumar Gupta said on Tuesday that the cleanliness drive had increased monitoring of sanitation work, leading to better results.

“Senior officers have all been out in the field to check cleanliness. This has led to a pressure on workers to perform,” said the North Corporation Commissioner.

Officials said Zonal Deputy Commissioners had been empowered to hire additional manpower to make sure sweeping and garbage collection are carried out across the city.

Apart from garbage, the collection of silt from drains and construction debris has also increased in the past week.

SDMC spokesperson Mukesh Yadav said: “Empty plots and abandoned areas are being cleared of malba and the silt from drains is also being removed.”

In the South civic body’s four zones, the total solid waste (garbage, silt and malba) collection has gone up from 12,000 MT to 16,000 MT.

 
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