The Hindu     31.08.2012

Corporation goes all out on anti-rodent drive

A day after the Chennai Corporation launched a drive to
remove rats and dogs from the premises of government hospitals and
public places in the city, the civic body managed to recover the
carcasses of around 600 rats and capture nearly 25 dogs from hospitals.

On
Wednesday, the Corporation had launched a drive to unearth the burrows
of rats on hospital premises. According to the Corporation officials,
workers were employed in all the 15 zones between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on
Wednesday to lay rat traps. Around 248 teams of three workers each
scouted 28 government hospitals, 47 Corporation dispensaries and family
welfare centres, 77 markets, 33 bus stations and 80 godowns. Workers
were deployed in 30 commercial complexes and 7,031 rat traps set. On
Thursday, 587 dead rats were collected. A Corporation health official
said the traps would be set again to remove all rodents from the
vicinity.

Dog catchers captured 12 dogs from the
premises of the children’s hospital attached to the Institute of Child
Health and the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Around 10 dogs
were rounded up from Government Stanley Hospital in Mint. According to a
release from the Corporation, the effort would be continued for a
fortnight.

The drive was taken up on the directions
of the Chief Minister who ordered that hygiene be improved in all the
hospital campuses in the State. The instruction was in the wake of a
recent incident at the Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children
in Triplicane where the body of an infant was found with injuries on it
Visitors to the hospital and patient attendants had also complained of
the menace of rats and dogs on the campus.

Meanwhile,
a health inspector attached to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General
Hospital was suspended on Thursday for not doing enough to maintain
cleanliness. The Health Minister V.S. Vijay, who had come to the
hospital to participate in a function, conducted a surprise check and
found the hospital wanting in cleanliness, his office said.

•  Teams visit bus stations, godowns, dispensaries
• Health inspector suspended for inaction