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Ram Nagar residents allege unsafe disposal of garbage

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The Hindu 21.07.2009

Ram Nagar residents allege unsafe disposal of garbage

Staff Reporter

Memorandum submitted to District Revenue Officer

— Photo: A. Muralitharan

HEALTH HAZARD: Dumping and burning of garbage at Ram Nagar in Madipakkam cause inconvenience to residents.

KANCHEEPURAM: The Ramnagar South (East) Residents Welfare Association, Madipakkam, has alleged that village panchayat staff indulge in an indiscriminate dumping and burning of garbage in their area.

In a memorandum submitted to District Revenue Officer and Collector-in-charge A. Nambirasan here recently, the association office-bearers said that village panchayat staff dumped non-biodegradable waste such as plastics, use-and-throw products and domestic/commercial waste on vacant plots in the Ramnagar South area regularly despite opposition from the residents.

They also set fire to garbage, causing immense hardship to public.

Claming that their repeated pleas to the local bodies to stop this inhumane activity had failed to evoke favourable response, the association pleaded the district administration to issue stern direction to the local bodies not to indulge in such activities.

It had also called upon the district administration to help raise the height of Ramnagar South and 7th Cross streets by two to two-and-half feet in order to link them with Madipakkam-Kaiveli Road so that it would help residents access their houses easily when this area gets inundated during monsoon.

Further, pointing out that the entire area gets marooned and lies inundated for weeks together during monsoon, the association pleaded that flood drain channels be constructed in their area and linked with the main flood drain canal, constructed near Balaji Nagar.

Stating that their area was witnessing hype in real-estate activity in view of its proximity to Mass Rapid Transport System facility at Velachery and the already developed areas such as Nanganallur and Madipakkam on the outskirts of south Chennai, the association demanded an additional overhead tank facility to augment protected drinking water supply in the area.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 04:19
 

Plan to execute two major drinking water projects, says Mayor

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The Hindu 21.07.2009

Plan to execute two major drinking water projects, says Mayor

Staff Reporter

TIRUNELVELI: Accompanied by a team of officials, Mayor A.L. Subramanian visited the drinking water pumping stations in Tamirabharani on Monday.

“Since we are facing acute drinking water shortage, we’re planning to execute two major drinking water projects and have proposed to bring drinking water directly from Papanasam Dam, for which huge sum of money is required. Hence, we are going to meet Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to press our demand,” Mr. Subramanian said after visiting the pumping stations.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 04:13
 

Corporation complaint cell abuzz with regular calls

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The Hindu 21.07.2009

Corporation complaint cell abuzz with regular calls

Deepa H Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI: If you find an insect in the mayonnaise or if you feel uneasy about the colour used in a particular food product in a restaurant, you could call 1913 and complain. The complaint cell number of the Chennai Corporation receives regular calls regarding adulterated food or food that is prepared or served in unhygienic conditions.

According to rough estimates, the civic body’s food inspectors and sanitary inspectors conduct about 100 raids at hotels, drinking water manufacturers and retailers, road side eateries, fruit and vegetable stalls.

“Our most recent drive was against mangoes artificially ripened using calcium carbide stones. We raided, seized and destroyed 80 tonnes of mangoes. Godowns of wholesalers were also sealed. Though apples were also raided when we tested the wax in the laboratory, we found that it was not of a prohibited kind,” said P. Kuganantham, Health Officer, Chennai Corporation. He said that in the past few months due to stringent measures, over 10 lakh drinking water packets that did not meet the mandatory requirements such as printing of manufacturing date, address of the manufacturer, batch number and expiry date were destroyed. The Chennai Corporation’s 10 assistant health officers (one for each zone) are independent local health authorities under whom there are 20 food inspectors and 155 sanitary inspectors.

This network of officials takes informal food samples. If found adulterated, that particular food stuff is lifted as formal sample. If the stuff is found adulterated, action will be taken under the Prevention of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act, 1954, against the manufacturers and retail sellers.

The civic body takes action against a large number of pavement sellers on a regular basis for selling food that is contaminated and could cause disease. However, most of these sellers come back to their old spots after a few days of the raid, the spot in front of the Government General Hospital being an example of this. Dr. Kuganantham said the staff strength was not enough for such a large city. “We still have a long way to go in implementation of the PFA Act. We do need more staff.”

Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 July 2009 04:07
 


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