The Times of India              03.10.2013 

Namma toilets in Amma Mandapam get thumbs-up

TRICHY: The 'namma toilet' concept, which was launched few months back near the Amma Mandapam in the city, has become a hit among the devotees visiting the Srirangam temple since it is located en route to the temple. The public are now urging the administration to install more such toilets across the city.

With the recent announcement of the Tamil Nadu government to construct more such public toilets, people are hoping that various parts of the city could soon witness 'namma toilets' that are maintained on a build-operate-transfer-basis. The 'namma toilet' in Amma Mandapam, which is being maintained by two members of a private bank, has two bathrooms and toilet facilities, exclusively for men and women. It is utilised by at least 500 people per day free of charge.

Chandrasekar from Andhra Pradesh, who had come on a tour to the city, said in most of the cities using public toilets is a harrowing experience as doors and floors of the toilet would be slippery. "The government initiative to setup such toilets is a good move and helps tourists like us," he added.

According to officials, many people are now urging the administration to start a page on social networking site, Facebook. According to a corporation official, the system was announced here on a trial basis, along with Ooty and Tambaram in Chennai. The district had also given proposals to the government to set up namma toilets at various locations for which the government recently announced. However, financial allocation and numbers of toilets sanctioned for the district is still not known.

He further said the entire model was brought up after several consultations with some world-class agencies, looking at the accessibility for all types of users - men, women, children, elderly and differently-abled.

The Hindu             26.09.2013

Corporation reports fall in dengue cases in city

In August and September (till 25th) the Corporation has seen a reduction in the number of dengue cases.

According to Corporation Commissioner G. Latha, the fall comes even after the civic body had initiated measures to ensure that no dengue case goes unreported. And also after the Corporation had taken steps to reduce mosquito breeding sources, appointed workers on contract to do the work and worked extensively in high-risk areas.

In July, the Corporation prepared a micro plan to ensure that workers engaged for fogging, spraying of Bacillus thuringiensis and using abate followed a timetable, executed the work and received acknowledgement for the same from the residents. And the civic body had taken on contract 40 workers, eight each a zone. The eight workers in each zone functioned as a team, visited a ward a day and carried out the aforementioned operations. They also obtained the residents’ signatures as a proof of their carrying out the work. And while obtaining the signatures the workers also obtained the mobile phone numbers, which the sanitary inspectors, zonal sanitary officers and other senior officials used for verification.

The team also carried out source reduction operations like removing coconut shells, unused tyres, plastic containers, etc. that stored water for mosquitoes to breed. Door-to-door campaigns were also conducted to create awareness among the public.

Ms. Latha said that the action the Corporation had taken had ensured that there were no new cases from the high-risk areas (see graphic).

The Corporation did not stop with that, though. It had also engaged multipurpose health workers from the office of the Deputy Director of Health Services to carryout source reduction operations. Plus, with the help of District Entomologist, the Corporation had also conducted training for its workers. It has planned to engage National Service Scheme volunteers to carry out awareness drive and had arranged for display of slides in cinemas.

Ms. Latha said that the Corporation had also constituted teams to tackle medical emergencies and address issues that follows monsoon.