The Hindu                04.06.2013

Corporation to get cracking on stray cattle

Residents could soon see an end to the constant problem of cattle on the roads — the Chennai Corporation is set to begin cattle-impounding operations across all zones.

Tenders have already been floated for five modern vehicles to impound cattle for one year. At present, the civic body has five vehicles, but needs more.

Corporation officials said stray cattle were a nuisance to residents, and with scores of them occupying road margins and pavements, they were a hindrance to traffic flow and pedestrian movement.

Once the new vehicles are commissioned, the civic body will be able to respond quickly to residents’ complaints about stray cattle.

A team will impound the cattle and owners will have to pay a fine of Rs. 1,550 per head for their release.

Cattle not claimed by owners will be looked after by the Blue Cross of India.

The move comes after a woman was gored in the stomach by a stray cow in Nanganallur a few months ago.

Doctors had to operate on her, and she had to have 20 stitches.

The victim’s husband then filed a PIL and the High Court ordered the Corporation to take action against the owners of animals that roam on the streets. An official said that over the last five years, action had been taken against around 5,000 people, for allowing their cattle on the roads.

The city currently accommodates over 1 lakh cattle, most of which are in the recently-added zones of Sholinganallur, Madhavaram and Tiruvottiyur among others.

The Hindu               03.06.2013

Corporation limits brought under NCD campaign

R. Sairam

The Coimbatore Corporation limits have been brought under a campaign to screen people above 30 years of age for the four non-communicable diseases (NCDs) of hypertension with cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and its complications, breast cancer and cervical cancer.

In the initial stages, this campaign was confined largely to the rural areas. However, with Coimbatore being a highly urbanised district, a request was made to include the Corporation limits, Deputy Director of Public Health R. Damodharan told The Hindu .

The total population of 32 lakh in the district was split almost equally among rural and urban areas, which necessitated such a move. Screening only the rural areas would result in a huge chunk of people being missed and a true picture of NCDs in Coimbatore could not be arrived at without including the urban areas, he said.

Hence, a request was made to the State Government in March and was accepted immediately. The screening process began in Corporation limits in April.

Further, he said that a large number of industrial and business ventures were located within the city limits and they employed a huge workforce, which would also have been missed.

The scheme was being implemented in rural areas through the 47 primary health centres and the District Headquarters Government Hospital and the eight taluk and non-taluk Government Hospitals.

Within the Corporation limits, he said that the 20 maternity centres of the civic body were being utilised.

Medical personnel

Staff nurses were being appointed through an outsourcing process specifically for the NCD screening campaign. Dr. Damodharan said that so far seven nurses have been appointed and the rest would be posted shortly.

A total of 746 medical personnel in primary health centres including 100 medical officers, 274 village health nurses, 32 lab technicians and 114 staff nurses have been trained to screen for NCDs.