Urban News

The Hindu 08.04.2010

Stress on clean drinking water

Staff Reporter

— Photo: S. James.

SOCIAL CAUSE:A student of Lady Doak College creating water awareness in Madurai

MADURAI: It is estimated that more than1.1 billion people of the world population rely on unsafe drinking water sources. So in an effort to create an awareness on a larger scale the theme for the World Water Day 2010, ‘clean water for a healthy world' has been chosen to focus on raising an awareness of water quality under the theme.

Keeping in mind this objective, Department of Environmental Studies, Lady Doak College, along with the Public Health Department organised a ‘Road Show' in front of Government Rajaji Hospital here on Wednesday. The show was part of the World Water Day celebrations.

A small pavilion was put by the department exhibiting useful information adequately supplemented with good photographs on the need to conserve water, importance of clean drinking water, water contamination, how to control water contamination, water wastage, waterborne diseases, vectorborne diseases were displayed at the pavilion.

Close to seventy-five first-year undergraduate students participated in the programme and distributed pamphlets and short notices carrying information on everyday water usage stressing judicious usage and drinking boiled water. Students made the members of the general public visit the pavilion and explained to them the aspects associated with saving water and having clean water.

The programme was inaugurated by Nawas Babu, Director, S.A.Knitwears Private Limited, in the presence of Mercy Pushpalatha, Principal, Lady Doak College, who delivered the inaugural address. The event was organised by Manorama Dhanaseeli and Priscilla, of Centre for Environmental Studies, LDC.

The Hindu 08.04.2010

Corporation to focus on creating diseases-free city: Commissioner

Special Correspondent

Photo: K. Ananthan.

World Health Day:Conservancy workers take part in an awareness rally in the city on Wednesday. —

COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Corporation is working towards creating a diseases-free city, but the public also will have to play a significant role in achieving this objective, Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra said on Wednesday after the Corporation had organised a rally to mark the World Health Day.

Through an earlier study of the situation in the city, the Corporation had identified choked drains, accumulating garbage and mosquito breeding as areas of concern.

The main focus was on streamlining and intensifying the regular work such as cleaning choked drains, mosquito control and the removal of garbage. The Corporation planned garbage removal at night also in the bus stands.

“We have appointed 400 contract workers to clean the storm water drains. We have not received complaints of choked drains for the last three months, from the people in the areas where these workers have been deployed,” the Commissioner said. People should also desist from dumping garbage in the drains. “Our anti-plastics drive aims to check this problem,” the Commissioner said.

The Corporation was also planning 24 x7 garbage removal throughout the day. But, it was in need of more sanitary workers. For instance, five to eight conservancy workers must be available at any point of time in each of the five bus stands in the city. Conservancy should be carried out in three shifts a day to keep the bus terminals clean.

Now, the Corporation would have to outsource workers for the 24x7 conservancy work as it could not insist on the permanent workers in the civic body to work on Sundays.

Garbage was not removed on Sundays and workers removed it only for half a day on other holidays. Therefore, outsourcing would be an option to meet the requirement of additional workers to carry out the round-the-clock garbage removal programme.

As for the anti-mosquito drive, the Commissioner said constant surveillance would be carried out in areas identified for it.

Intensifying fogging and spraying of larvicide were the two main components of the drive.

“We need total co-operation from the public in this drive also. They should not eliminate breeding space such as unsafe storage of fresh water in open containers or stagnation of rain water in discarded coconut shells and other items,” the Commissioner said.

Mr. Mishra said the co-operation from the public was not to the desired level now, especially when the Corporation's workers turned up at their homes for fogging or spraying the larvicide.