Urban News

The Hindu  13.10.2010

Seasonal disease prevention lacks coordination: RTI

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: No single coordinating authority exists between the Delhi Government and the various civic agencies in the city to ensure that the preventive efforts taken to contain dengue, malaria and other seasonal diseases are put on a common platform and synchronised.

“This lack of coordination between the agencies could have been one of the major reasons for the large number of dengue and malaria cases being reported in the Capital this season with preventive measures too not showing desired result . However, in reply to a Right to Information (RTI) question, the New Delhi Municipal Council said while there was no single coordinating agency, meeting are held with other agencies for strengthening preventive measures,'' said Vinod Kumar Jain who had filed the RTI.

Mr. Jain also enquired if private medical practitioners were involved in collecting data of the number of patients in Delhi who are admitted to hospitals because of dengue, malaria and other seasonal diseases.

“In reply the civic agencies said it was the Municipal Corporation of Delhi that is the nodal agency for collecting data from private practitioners in Delhi. This means that all the dengue and malaria figures have to be reported and brought to one place from across the Capital which may not have been done in the most effective manner. We have had several complaints of dengue cases going unreported,'' said Mr. Jain.

Various civic agencies have claimed that they are taking several preventive measures including door-to-door checking for presence of mosquito breeding, checking of different places having water collections, strengthening of inter-sectoral co-ordination and issuance of notice and challans for creating conditions conducive for mosquitoes breeding.

Isolated pockets

“We are not saying that the Delhi Government or the civic agencies are not working. We only want to highlight the fact that the prevention work is being done in what seems like isolated pockets which is leading to lack of proper implementation of the preventive measures applied. Delhiites have suffered this season because of this lack of coordination,'' he said.

The Hindu  13.10.2010

Packaged drinking water: no implementing authority

Ramesh Susarla

Influential people running packaged water plants are the culprits, say sources

VISAKHAPATNAM: Bureau of Indian Standards, which sets and monitors the manufacturing and packing standards of several goods in the country, receives maximum number of complaints with regard to bad quality of packaged drinking water.

Ironically, the BIS however, is not vested with enforcement and prosecution powers with regard to the quality of packaged water that does not proclaim it to be meeting the ISI standards or does not publicise it to be `Packaged Drinking Water'. Compulsory certification/licensing is essential for packaged drinking water and the BIS has jurisdiction over only those who obtain licence from them, but unfortunately a number of others mint money in this guise circumventing provisions taking advantage of loopholes, Visakhapatnam BIS Director P. Radhakrishna told The Hindu.

Prevention of Food Adulteration Act specifies the State Health Department to monitor the packaged drinking water through Municipal Health officials, but even in the `List of Indian Standards under Mandatory Certification Implementation Authority' name of the `Authority' has not been mentioned leaving a scope for improper enforcement.

There is hardly any coordination between the BIS and Municipal Health officials except for the GVMC referring a few (about 15 per cent of samples collected) cases to the BIS for initiating action.

“We do not have jurisdiction over any manufacturing unit outside municipal limits,” laments Food Inspector Appa Rao. Four of his colleagues collect 28 samples a month from hotels, bottled/packaged water for testing.

Visakhapatnam branch, one of the two BIS has in Andhra Pradesh has control over 196 licences obtained from it in six districts – Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari and Khammam.

About eight cases are under prosecution with regard to complaints against packaging units. The BIS collects two market samples every month from each licensee as surveillance.

The common grouse of the implementing agencies is that several politicians and influential people running RO plants or packaged water plants were the true culprits, who know how to use loopholes and the genuine licensees were the sufferers.

Congress Government's scheme to supply filtered water to 51,000 thandas at Rs.2 a litre was one of the sources of misuse.