Urban News

The Hindu 23.11.2009

Civic bodies to enforce new health measures

Manisha Jha

NEW DELHI: With the Commonwealth Games to he held in the Capital next year, the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi are planning new measures to provide visitors and players with “safe” eating out options during their stay in the city.

At a recent meeting between the Principal Secretary (Health), Delhi Government, and the NDMC and MCD officials who enforce the health bylaws, it was decided that both the civic bodies would prepare a list of all the licensed restaurants or food establishments running in their area in order to prepare a directory that would help guide outsiders on the certified safe places to eat and dine in the Capital.

In addition, it was also decided to direct all licensed hotels, restaurants, food establishments to clearly display their health license and the medical health certificate of its food handlers in their premises so that customers are assured of the place’s food hygiene and safety.

To ensure proper implementation of the new directions, the civic bodies plan to undertake regular inspections and issue challans and notifications to those found violating the directions.

NDMC Medical Officer of Health Dr. P. K. Sharma said: “Preparing a directory of licensed eating joints and issuing directions mandating the public display of necessary documents is a step in that direction only. We plan to hand over the compiled list of eateries in our area within the next 15 days so that the directory can be prepared.”

According to Dr. Sharma, there are about 600 such food establishments operating in the NDMC area alone and the civic agency issues new health licenses for one year and renews them for three years subject to the clearance of the medical examination of the food handlers. “There are various parameters for issuing a valid health license to the food establishments and these include the overall sanitary and hygienic conditions of the joint, its location, storage conditions and state of its water and sewer connections among other things,” he added.

The Hindu 20.11.2009

MCC likely to take decision on sewerage by month-end

Staff Correspondent

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

DEVELOPMENT: Work on underground drainage under way at Kodical in Mangalore

MANGALORE: The council of the Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) is likely to take a decision in its meeting to be held by this month-end on connecting sewer lines from houses and other buildings to the newly laid underground sewerage network.

This matter will be discussed in the meeting scheduled for November 30, Mayor M. Shankar Bhat told The Hindu.

The Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) has completed the underground drainage (UGD) infrastructure in some parts of the city while work in some areas is under way. The sewerage is being built under a loan from the Asian Development Bank.

The KUIDFC has completed laying the network in Pachchanady area and has set up a sewage treatment plant (STP) there.

The Mayor said that the council would take a decision on how to connect the sewer lines from houses and other buildings to the network, who should connect them — corporation or property owners — and the fee to be fixed for users if the corporation were to be made responsible for the job.

According to M.K. Maninarayana, Superintending Engineer, KUIDFC, about 75 per cent of the work of laying of the new underground sewer network in the city has been completed. The KUIDFC has to lay 360 km of sewer pipes in the jurisdiction of the MCC. It has already laid 267.3 km of pipes.

It has completed building one more STP at Kavoor while two more STPs — one at Surathkal and another at Jeppinamogaru — are being set up. The four STPs will be able to process 89 MLD (million litres a day) of sewage, he said. The official said that of the 22 wells to be dug in different areas, only four had been dug and commissioned. The rest were in various stages of completion.

When all these works are complete, there would be 13,465 manholes in the jurisdiction of MCC.

The entire UGD work was expected to be completed by the end of June.