|
Kochi's Civic body and the case of 'vanishing' garbage trucks
Monday, 22 September 2014 10:30
administrator
The Times of India 22.09.2014 Kochi's Civic body and the case of 'vanishing' garbage trucksKOCHI:
With hardly a year left for the election to Kochi corporation council,
the opposition is turning the screws on the ruling front. Opposition
councillors alleged irregularities in the purchase and maintenance of
trucks for garbage disposal on Saturday.
The civic body had
recently purchased 10 new compactor trucks, costing an estimated Rs 31
lakh each, for transporting garbage from the city to Brahmapuram solid
waste treatment plant. The corporation had also purchased 44 pick-up
autorickshaws.
"While the local body procured these vehicles,
they have not been able to explain the status of 17 covered trucks that
were purchased earlier. Though, we have repeatedly asked for the details
of these vehicles, the corporation has refused to provide it," said
councillor M P Mahesh Kumar. When the vigilance and anti-corruption
bureau raided the corporation office recently, officials failed to
convincingly account for 38 of the 61 pick-up autorickshaws bought for
garbage disposal.
"These incidents indicate the ruling front's
apathy in addressing public issues," he added. According to councillor K
J Jacob, out of the 17 covered trucks not more than three or four are
operational. "The other vehicles are either damaged or abandoned. There
is no clarity on the status of these vehicles," he said.
Meanwhile, the corporation maintained that the new batch of vehicles was
purchased through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM) and Kerala State Urban Development Project (KSUDP). The
vehicles will operate in 21 health circles. "In fact, the local body did
not procure these the new vehicles. We got it through these projects.
All most all the vehicles are here and completing the registration
process now," said health committee chairperson T K Ashraf.
Regarding covered vehicles purchased earlier, he said that there was
"high risk involved in maintaining these vehicles as the local body had
to meet the expenses related to repair works.
The civic body
has to follow the rates decided by the public works department. We
prefer to hire vehicles for garbage disposal as there is need to meet
the expense for maintenance," added Ashraf
|
More men among toilet-sceptics in India
Monday, 22 September 2014 06:20
administrator
The Hindu 22.09.2014
More men among toilet-sceptics in India
Extensive new evidence shows that building toilets alone
will not eliminate open defecation in India as not everyone who has
access to toilet, especially men, believe that it’s important to use it. Not
having a toilet remains the major problem in sanitation: 60 per cent of
rural households and just under 10 per cent of urban households in
India do not have access to a toilet, according to new official data
from the 68th round of the National Sample Survey (NSS) data. But even
among households with access to toilets, some open defecation exists.
According to NSS data, two per cent of rural households with access to
toilets do not use them. However, researchers Diane Coffey, Aashish
Gupta et al of the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics (RICE)
found that 7 per cent of households with access to a toilet were not
using them. When they looked at households where at least one family
member was not using the toilet, the number swelled to 18 per cent. This number is being driven up by men, who, in all three surveys, reported lower toilet use than women. “I
built the toilet for my youngest daughter-in-law not to feel shame. But
I go to the fields – it’s much healthier going there,” Ramavatar, a
marginal farmer in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district, told
The Hindu
earlier this summer. Such “personal preference” is overwhelmingly the
most common reason for not using toilets despite access seen in both NSS
and RICE data.
Cleanliness index soon to rank cities
Saturday, 20 September 2014 07:23
administrator
The Hindu 20.09.2014
Cleanliness index soon to rank citiesClose on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
announcing the ambitious ‘Clean India’ mission, the Union Tourism
Ministry on Friday said it was working on a “cleanliness index’’ for
cities in the country to encourage the best performers and, in turn,
inspire others to spruce up. Methodology “We
are preparing a cleanliness index. The methodology has been drafted and
index calculated for six cities on a pilot basis. While we will not
name the dirtiest cities, we will certainly tell which are the
cleanest,” Tourism Secretary Parvez Dewan told reporters at a briefing
on work done by the Ministry in the first 100 days of the new
government. Expected to encourage best performers and inspire others
|
AMC begins dengue control drive in 44 ‘high risk’ localities
Wednesday, 17 September 2014 05:32
administrator
The Times of India 17.09.2014 AMC begins dengue control drive in 44 ‘high risk’ localities AURANGABAD:
The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) on Monday launched dengue
control drive in 44 localities in the city. Based on number of dengue
cases reported from different localities in last two months, the
municipal body identified 44 'high risk' areas in four municipal wards
(A, C, D and F).
The AMC already completed the drive in two municipal wards (B and E) on Saturday.
In ward A, 23 cases of dengue was reported in last two months while
ward C has seen two cases. Ward D reported four cases while 15 cases
were identified in ward F over the period. There are six municipal wards
in the city - A, B, C, D, E and F.
Health officer in the AMC,
Jayashree Kulkarni, said that the civic body is giving priority to 44
localities and carrying out abate treatment, fogging and spraying
simultaneously.
"Although there are no fresh cases of dengue
was reported from the localities, we marked 44 residential areas as
'high risk'," she said.
Sources in the civic body said that as
precautionary measure the civic body had added some of the localities
where dengue patients were found last season.
"Naregaon and
Ambedkar Nagar have not reported positive cases of dengue in the current
season but the authorities are still giving it priority," they said.
Last year, there were 145 'high risk' localities within municipal
limits.
Nine deaths due to dengue were recorded in Aurangabad
since July 2014. About 221 dengue suspects have been reported since
July, of whom 38 were confirmed.
Rs 19.37 lakh collected in fines for breaking sanitation rules
Tuesday, 16 September 2014 07:24
administrator
The Times of India 16.09.2014 Rs 19.37 lakh collected in fines for breaking sanitation rules AHMEDABAD:
The health department of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has filed 197
complaints of sanitation against various restaurants and eateries in
concerned courts. The department has levied fines worth Rs 19.37 lakh
for violation of health and sanitation rules at these places in the
city.
Through mobile courts alone the corporation has collected
a fine of Rs 5.25 lakh in the city. Data released by the health
department of AMC reveals that cases of waterborne diseases, diarrhoea
and vomiting' have increased in the city and 9,012 cases have been
recorded in the first fortnight of September. Last year 9,111 cases were
recorded in September. Apart from diarrhoea, as many as 104 cases of
cholera were recorded in August in the city. However, not a single case
of cholera has been registered during this month.
In case of
vector-borne diseases, the health department has recorded 614 cases of
malaria in the last two weeks. The cases of falciparum and dengue
touched 143 in the city this month. The health department has collected
over 6 lakh blood samples from various corners of the city to test for
malaria.
The health department also conducted several raids in
September during which it collected 184 food samples of which 15 were
found to be contaminated and adulterated. AMC has served 1,299 notices
for violating hygiene norms of food items and water used in restaurants.
In the last two weeks, AMC seized 7,705 kg of adulterated food
products. The department also attended to 2,744 complaints related to
health and sanitation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 20 of 250 |
