The Hindu         13.07.2012

Step up cleanliness drive, civic bodies told

Additional District Magistrate P.K. Jayasree has asked the corporation and municipal authorities to intensify the ward-level sanitation activities.

The ADM asked the civic bodies to submit an action taken report on the sanitation drive by July 30. The government has allotted Rs.10,000 for each ward. She urged the heath department to work in tandem with the health wing of the civic bodies.

Meanwhile, the garbage issue in the city continued to be severe. The entire city has become a huge garbage dumping yard.

There is no road in the city where one can walk without suffering the stench of the rotting garbage.

The garbage, including domestic waste, plastic and rotting carcasses, lies heaped on every street corner as garbage removal from the city had stopped many months ago. Stray dogs and cattle feasting on heaps of garbage is a common sight even in posh localities.

Epidemic threat

“We have not opened the windows towards the road for months as people are dumping garbage in front of our flat. No action has been taken against it even after repeated complaints to the authorities,” says K.S. Manjula, who stays near Poonkunnam.

People were trying all measures, including burning and disinfecting, when the nauseating stench from the rotten garbage became unbearable, she noted.

A constant threat of an epidemic outbreak looms large over Thrissur city due to appalling sanitary conditions. People are apprehensive over the increasing number of diseases. In all, 1,554 persons sought treatment for fever in the district on Wednesday alone, of whom 51 were admitted to various hospitals.

Meanwhile, increasing number of malaria cases among migrant labourers is worrying health officials.

In all, 103 cases of malaria have been reported in this year in the district. The migrant labourers, most of them from Orissa, Bihar and West Bengal, live in poor living conditions with appalling sanitary facilities.

Inadequate shelter, lack of basic amenities and limited access to health care make them susceptible to vector-borne diseases including malaria, dengue, chikungunya and filariasis, the health officials said.