Urban News

Source : The Hindu Date : 18.06.2009

Drive against water-borne diseases

A Correspondent

KATTAPPANA: The Health Department in association with the Thodupuzha Municipality on Wednesday launched a special drive to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases.

The first stage of the project would focus on prevention of water-borne diseases and in the second stage it will focus on lifestyle diseases and palliative care, said an official of the Health Department. The programme has been launched after malaria and dengue fever cases were detected in the district. The municipality has earmarked Rs. 6 lakh for the project. Health workers distributed leaflets to the public and have started collecting details of labourers employed from outside the State.

Of the total 18 cases of malaria found in the district, only one case at Karimannur, near Thodupuzha, was detected to be caused by local factors, the official said.

The official said that additional health workers had been appointed at the taluk hospital at Thodupuzha to help in the sanitation drive in the municipal areas.

Chlorination

This includes chlorination of water supply in public places, supply of guppy fishes which eat the larvae of mosquitoes, observance of ‘dry day’ on campuses with the participation of the students and collecting the details of unused and filthy water sources.

Source : The Hindu Date : 18.06.2009

KUIDFC yet to lay 120 km of drainage lines

Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE: The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) is yet to lay 120 km of underground drainage pipelines in the jurisdiction of the Mangalore City Corporation, according to Superintending Engineer, KUIDFC, M.K. Maninarayana.

The pipelines are being laid under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project (KUDCEMP) under a loan given to the MCC by the Asian Development Bank.

Mr. Maninarayana was answering questions by councillors at a special meeting here on Wednesday. He said that the KUIDFC had to lay 380 km of UGD pipelines. It had laid 260 km of pipelines since 2003.

He said that 22 pumping stations were being set up to pump sewage from the UGD system to four new sewage treatment plants (STPs) being set up under the project. Of the four STPs, two plants, one at Panchhanady and the other at Kavoor, had been completed. The plants at Jeppinamogaru and Surathkal were under construction.

Mr. Maninarayana said that laying of the pipelines had been delayed due to issues related to land acquisition. The remaining work would be completed by March 2010, he said.

He said that laying UGD pipelines and constructing facilities would cost Rs. 207 crore. So far, Rs. 135 crore had been spent on the work.

Mr. Maninarayana said that the corporation would require 26 people to maintain its STPs and 22 pumping stations. It may have to spend Rs. 2 lakh on their salaries each month.

Giving details about water supply works, Syed Illias Pasha, Superintendent Engineer, KUIDFC, said that it had commissioned a water supply line with 18 MGD (million gallons a day) capacity from Thumbe vented dam to Padil in the city. In addition, it had laid 800 km of water supply distribution lines in the jurisdiction of the corporation.

Now engineers were engaged in linking these pipelines with the main supply lines in the city. He said it would take four months to complete the work.

Mr. Pasha said that the entire water supply work would cost Rs. 106 crore.

J.R. Lobo, Deputy Project Director, KUDCEMP, said that of the water being pumped in the new 18 MGD capacity pipeline 3 MGD water would be supplied to Ullal town and the remaining will be distributed within the city.

Mr. Lobo said that the cost of the works under the KUDCEMP had increased from Rs. 306 crore to Rs. 350 crore. All works under KUDCEMP in the MCC’s jurisdiction would be completed by March next year, he said.