Urban News

The Hindu 09.01.2010

Works under way to modernise maternity home in Coimbatore

Staff Reporter

Coimbatore: Seethalakshmi Maternity Home on Brooke Bond Road here is being modernised at Rs. 1 crore with the objective to turn it into a mini general hospital with special focus on maternity care.

P. Pynthamil Pari, Chairman, Coimbatore Corporation (South Zone), along with Assistant Commissioner A. Lakshmanan, Assistant Executive Engineer T. Gnanavel and Town Planning Committee Chairman Krishnamurthy inspected the works.

An area of 12,000 sq ft is being covered with works for the 6,092-ft ground floor already completed. First floor works were on.

The inspecting team directed the contractor to complete the works in ninety days.

Mr. Pari told journalists that the maternity home that had done enormous service was being revived in the last couple of years.

Now, the hospital will have the departments and equipment for treating all kinds of ailments.

At present, the strength of health staff in the maternity home was 24. There was a need for more gynaecologists, paediatricians and anaesthetists.

Mr. Pari said that the Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the portfolio of Local Administration, would be approached for the facilities required at the maternity home.

The Hindu 09.01.2010

‘Wealth out of Waste’ scheme for Coimbatore suburbs also

K.V. Prasad

Photo: Special Arrangement

Eco-friendly move: Vadavalli Town Panchayat President Amirthavalli Shanmughasundaram (second left) checks the weight of recyclable waste. —

COIMBATORE: ITC Limited’s Wealth out of Waste Programme – to buy recyclable waste from the public – is being extended to some of the suburbs to the west and north of the city.

The company is already collecting paper waste, plastic carry bags, paper and cardboard cartons, toothpaste and soaps wrappers from some residential colonies where the programme was launched a year ago. This was extended to Vadavalli Town Panchayat recently.

It will be extended to Perianaickenpalayam on Friday (January 8) and to Thudialur the following day, ITC’s Manager- Materials Feroz Munshi said on Thursday.

Bags to store paper waste and plastic bags have been provided to 2,500 houses. All the 10,000 houses would be covered by January 10.

Town Panchayat President Amirthavalli Shanmugasundaram went on a door-to-door sensitisation drive as part of the launch.

Former President V.M. Shanmughasundaram brought in a sponsor to provide bins to the houses for storing wet waste (from kitchen and garden), Mr. Munshi said.

“People should not mix dry waste, which can fetch money, with the wet waste that can be converted into manure,” he explained. “That is why we provide separate bags to store the paper waste. We buy the waste at Rs.2.50 a kg.”

The company provided a tri-cycle to each cluster of 2,500 houses for collecting the waste.

“We have collected 200 kg to 300 kg of recyclable waste from these houses,” Mr. Munshi said.

Vadavalli generated three tonnes of garbage on an average every day. And, 40 per cent of this was recyclable waste.

Objective

Mr. Munshi said on Thursday that the objective of the programme was to ensure that no paper or plastic waste littered the roads and other public places in Vadavalli.

“Over the next couple of days, Periyanaickenpalayam and Thudialur will join the drive based on a similar objective,” he said.

President of Periyanaickenpalayam Town Panchayat G. Arun Kumar said 2,500 houses would be covered in the first phase beginning on Friday. The rest 7,500 houses would be covered in two phases later.