The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Pre-monsoon sanitation drive from May 5

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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Pre-monsoon sanitation drive from May 5

Staff Reporter

Workshop to finalise ward-level plans on April 23

Special committees to oversee sanitation drive
Stern action against violation of building rules

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The city Corporation will launch a pre-monsoon sanitation drive on May 5 as part of a State-level initiative.

Ward-level committees will be formed for the purpose. Vector sources and areas where there is water-logging will be identified. These and other measures connected with the drive were presented before the Corporation council here on Friday by chairman of the Health standing committee G.R. Anil. There were heated discussions between UDF and LDF councillors before the Corporation council unanimously approved the programme of action for the sanitation drive.

A workshop will be organised on April 23 to finalise the ward-level plans for the sanitation drive. Councillors, Corporation secretary, officials of various departments and representatives of youth and voluntary organisations will take part in the workshop.

Special committees will be formed to oversee the sanitation drive in bus stands, markets, railway stations, centres of pilgrimage and tourist destinations from May 9 to 15. Special squads will visit houses and spread the message of sanitation. There will be one squad for 50 to 100 houses. On May 12, the drive will focus on health institutions and educational institutions and on May 13, public institutions and government offices. On May 14, the focus will be on waterways, including canals and drains, and on May 15, private institutions, including hotels. As part of the drive, April 20, 27, May 4, 11, 18 and Sundays after that will be observed as ‘dry days.’

Opposition members charged the Corporation with sidelining councillors while implementing such programmes. Councillors Maheshwaran Nair and Beemapalli Rasheed said though the Corporation had announced several such drives in the past, there were many drains and culverts that still remained blocked. The culvert in front of the Pareeksha Bhavan was a case in point.

The Corporation had not put any slab over a drain or a culvert in the last two-and-a-half years, they alleged. This was contested by LDF councillors. Summing up the debate, Mayor C. Jayan Babu said defunct health committees in wards would be revitalised. The help of the local police should be sought, if necessary, to enter vacant plots of land where there was water logging. Gum boots, gloves and uniforms would be issued to sanitation workers and steps would be taken to ensure that they wore it while on duty, he said.

The council passed a resolution moved by Kanjirampara Ravi calling on the Centre to restore the State’s quota of rice to be distributed through the public distribution system.

The Council also passed a resolution moved by Veli Varghese calling upon the State government to remove water hyacinths in Akkulam lake and to remove the blocks in the Parvathy Puthanar to enable smooth flow of water prior to the monsoon season.

In a press note issued here, the Mayor warned that stern action would be initiated against those who constructed buildings in violation of building rules.

He said it had come to the notice of the Corporation that several buildings were being constructed in violation of building rules in areas marked for road-widening.

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