Following the announcement made by Women and Child Development Minister Umashree about giving special focus to DJ Halli, Azad Nagar, Pantarpallya, Nayandahalli and surrounding areas to address malnourishment among children, BBMP Commissioner N Lakshminarayana inspected DJ Halli, Muneshwara Block, Kushalnagar and SK Garden wards on Saturday.

The purpose of the visit was to study the area, get an  idea of the situation and establish 40 new anganwadis to address issues like health, sanitation and water supply. The commissioner told Express that other stakeholders and BBMP staff were also summoned to find out deficiencies in these areas. Basic amenities in these areas have been neglected for many years, he said.

“We found housing is a major point of concern. I will put up a file before the slum board to construct more houses,” the commissioner said adding that health of women and children is also a major concern. Residents in these areas have only three small hospitals to go for treatment — one each in Pottery Town, DJ Halli and Kushalnagar — and staff have been told to write about any issues concerning patient health care, he said. He also said the BBMP will appoint more staff in these hospitals on a contract basis.

He also visited the primary health centre in the area and said the BBMP will upgrade the centre since the population around it was big. “The Palike will set up 40 anganwadis along with the Department of Women and Child Development on a 50:50 basis,” he added.

Dr Sumithra, Medical Officer of Health in BBMP Hospitals said: “The Palike had identified 486 malnourished children in the east zone, out of which 196 were identified as severely acute malnourished (SAM). These children were treated at various anganwadis. At present, the Palike has 91 SAM children and 38 moderately malnourished children. They are being regularly monitored and given nutritional supplements.”

Local corporator Sampath Raj linked the malnutrition and unhygienic living conditions of residents to low budget and disparity in allocation of funds. “More then `50 crore is required for the overall development of these places. The commissioner has assured to take up these works on a priority basis,” he added. Local MLA Akhanda Srinivas Murthy and others were present.