The Hindu             26.09.2013

Measures to check dengue cases in Central Zone

Staff Reporter

An emergency meeting of the Central Zone of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation on Wednesday unanimously decided to organise door-to-door dengue control checks with the help of domestic breeding checkers .

The meeting was called by Central Zone Chairman Virender Kasana and was attended by 20 councillors and civic body health officers, including Additional MHO (Public Health) SDMC M.K. Pal, and Deputy Commissioner Ashok Singh.

“Special care will be given to the stagnant water and at building construction sites. Special cleanliness drive will be launched at Kalkaji Temple during Navratra festival. As many as 30 special Safai Karamvharis will be deputed for this purpose with trucks and tippers,” said Mr. Kasana, adding that the dengue fogging machine will be used in the morning also.

Records

“The issue of 97 dengue cases being reported from the Central Zone was also discussed at the meeting. Even municipal councillor from Sangam Vihar Kalpana Jha said in the meeting that his son is also suffering from dengue but there is no case in Sangam Vihar as per the records,” he added.

It was pointed out in the meeting that the areas most vulnerable to dengue were Meethapur, Jamia Nagar, Shaheen Bagh and other unauthorised colonies.

The Times of India             24.09.2013

Corporation to replace automatic doors on Kozhikode's e-toilets

KOZHIKODE: The automatic doors on the coin-operated electronic toilets set up for women in Kozhikode corporation will soon be replaced with manual doors.

The civic authorities have decided to replace the automatic doors of the e-toilets with manual ones in the wake of lukewarm response to the 15 e-toilets set up in the city. The civic body has asked the Thiruvananthapuram-based company, which implemented the project, to replace the doors many women refrain from using the facility due to fear of getting trapped inside.

Launched with much fanfare, the e-toilet project turned out to be a disappointment mainly due to fears of getting trapped inside and also due to unavailability of water. Eram Scientific Solutions, which had erected the e-toilets is expected to carry out the replacement in a month.

The civic body had erected the toilets for women after demands for privacy of women. The issue cropped up after an employee of a private hotel in the city was, in 2010, caught red-handed for fixing a camera in the women's toilet in the hotel.

The civic body had then erected fifteen toilets for women on the basis of a direction from the ombudsman to local self-government institutions.

E-toilets were installed at Cheruvannur, Beypore, Karaparamba, Lorry stand, Oyitty Road, Pavangad, Beach, Mananchira, two at the corporation stadium, three at Kozhikode medical college and two at Muthalakulam.

According to corporation authorities, only about 100-150 women use the toilets situated on the busy Oyitty road each day. The other e-toilets are used very rarely.

"The automatic doors actually keep us away from the e-toilets. There were instances when we found it difficult to open the door once we entered inside. We prefer manual doors so there is no fear of getting trapped inside," said N K Sajisha, a native of Athanikkal. "The women will start using the toilets if the authorities replace the existing automatic doors with manual ones," she said.

M Radhakrishnan, social welfare standing committee chairman said the civic body, during a discussion held with the company representatives, had conveyed the matter. "Only a small section of women are using the e-toilets. The company has agreed to replace the automatic doors with manual ones. We have also told asked them to ensure availability of water in the toilets," he said.