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Plan to upgrade 5 grama panchayats

Tuesday, 18 August 2009 06:30 administrator
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The Hindu - Kerala 18.08.2009

Plan to upgrade 5 grama panchayats

N.J. Nair

Proposal to be given to delimitation panel

 

Bifurcation of 14 others mooted

The number of municipalities to go up to 58

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A proposal to upgrade five grama panchayats as municipalities and bifurcate 14 others is understood to have been drawn up for the consideration of the Delimitation Commission.

Official sources told The Hindu here that it has been proposed to upgrade Karunagapally, Thrikkakara, Kottakkal, Nilambur and Neeleswaram as municipalities and merge certain panchayats with the adjoining municipalities. The number of municipalities will go up to 58.

As per the proposal drawn up by the Local Self-Government Department, Nattakom and Kumarakom panchayats have been recommended to be merged with Kottayam municipality, Thycaud and Pookode with Guruvayur, Purathussery with Irinjalakuda, Eloor with Kalamassery and Thiruvankulam with Thrippunithura. Maradu panchayat has been proposed to be integrated with Kochi Corporation. There is no proposal to upgrade any municipality as corporation. It has also been proposed to merge five panchayats in the capital with Thiruvananthapuram Corporation.

In the wake of the merger and upgradation, the number of panchayats is likely to decrease from the current 999.

Standing committees

It has almost been decided in principle to have four standing committees in all panchayats. In order to facilitate the formation of the committees, the minimum number of members in each panchayat has been fixed at 13. Each committee will have three members and the president will be an invitee to all the committees without voting powers. This proposal has been mooted to increase the efficiency of the standing committees. There were complaints that the committees were over-loaded and could not function effectively. The proposal is seen as a solution to such complaints, sources said.

The delimitation proposals have been framed on the basis of the density of population, area and funds. It has been recommended to upgrade civic bodies having more than a population of 50,000, own income of Rs.20 lakh and 20 sq km area.

Density of population and the ratio of non-agriculture male labourers were considered for upgrading panchayats as municipalities. Proposals for amending the Panchayati Raj Act and Municipalities Act too have been drawn up.

The proposals will be given to the Delimitation Commission after the approval of the Cabinet. The proposals are likely to figure at the next Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the sources said.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 August 2009 06:35
 

Control mosquito menace, CMC officials told

Tuesday, 18 August 2009 06:24 administrator
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The Hindu - Karnataka 18.08.2009

Control mosquito menace, CMC officials told

Special Correspondent

Isolation ward kept ready at McGann Hospital in Shimoga


ALLAYING FLU FEARS: District Health and Family Welfare Officer M. Channabasappa giving details about the steps being taken to check the spread of A(H1N1) at a municipal meeting in Shimoga on Monday.

SHIMOGA: The City Municipal Council (CMC) at its special meeting here on Monday decided to take steps to check the spread of dengue and malaria although the cases of A(H1N1) had not been reported in the city so far.

CMC president N.J. Rajasekhar, who presided over the meeting, instructed the department concerned to take up extensive fogging and spraying of insecticides to control the mosquito menace.

He asked the officials concerned not to allow the polluted water to store up as they could be the breeding spots for mosquitoes.

The CMC president said the special meeting convened to discuss the preventive measures against A (H1N1) should provide concrete suggestions in this regard.

District Health and Family Welfare Officer M. Channabasappa and District Surveillance Officer Raghunandan gave details about the symptoms of the A (H1N1).

They said that cases of A(H1N1) had not been reported in Shimoga district. “But as a preventive step 10 beds in the McGann Hospital in Shimoga and five beds each in government hospital in taluk headquarters are kept reserved for A(H1N1) patients,” they said.

Dr. Channabasappa said the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits and Tamiflu tablets had been supplied to the district.

He said a medical team comprising a surgeon, anaesthetist, ENT specialist and a child specialist had been formed in all the taluks to treat the patients. He said it had been found that the menace of mosquitoes had increased in some parts of the city as pits dug up for the underground drainage.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 18 August 2009 06:30
 

26 H1N1 +ve cases in PCMC areas till date

Tuesday, 18 August 2009 06:17 administrator
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The Times of India - Pune 18.08.2009

26 H1N1 +ve cases in PCMC areas till date

TNN 18 August 2009, 02:43am IST

PUNE: As many as 26 H1N1 positive cases were detected in the Pimpri-Chinchwad township till date, of which 17 have fully recovered while nine are still in hospitals.

Addressing a news conference here on Monday, R R Iyer, medical director, Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), said: "As many as 58,208 people were screened at the eight civic hospitals in the township. While 29,212 of them had flu-like symptoms, 964 were suspected of the H1N1 flu."

Iyer added that the civic body has given 5,883 Tamiflu tablets to the suspected and positive cases and 9,089 ml Tamiflu syrup to children suspected to be suffering from H1N1.

A woman from Nigdi, who was suspected of suffering from H1N1 flu and put on ventilator at Sassoon general hospital, was taken off the ventilator and is out of danger, Iyer said.

On the Ganesh festival celebrations, Iyer said: "H1N1 virus spreads in crowded places, so people should avoid such places." The festival should be celebrated in a simple manner this year, he added.

Meanwhile, Shrirang Gokhale of Niramaya hospital said: "The primary symptoms of common flu and H1N1 flu are the same. In case of common flu, the symptoms reduce in three-five days, while in case of H1N1 flu the symptoms increase. Around 80 per cent patients recover from H1N1 flu."

Gokhale added that a three-way approach was needed for preventing the spread of H1N1 flu. "It comprises social distancing reducing the movement of the affected person and his/her chances of coming in contact with others; home isolation keeping the patient at home and medical quarantine."

Meanwhile, Pimpri-Chinchwad mayor Aparna Doke said that a student, who was tested H1N1 positive, was cured after undergoing treatment at home. Narrating the recovery process, the student's father said: "My daughter studies in std X at the D.Y. Patil school in Pimpri and her friend, who shares the same bench, was found to be H1N1 positive on August 7. We got my daughter screened at Naidu hospital on August 8 and got her admitted at the Aundh hospital.

The father added that, since there was no bed available at Aundh hospital, they started treatment on her at home. "Everyone at home used masks. She was kept in a separate room and underwent a five-day course of Tamiflu. The doctors of YCM hospital came to our house to give us the tablets," he said.
 
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