A meeting of the district-level core committee chaired by District Collector Alex Varghese has decided to begin pre-monsoon cleaning activities in Alappuzha district.
Mr. Varghese has directed the officials to eliminate mosquito and flies breeding grounds. Local self-government institutions have been asked to ensure the flow of water in drains, canals and other waterbodies as part of pre-monsoon cleaning and sanitation measures to prevent infectious disease outbreaks.
‘Dry days’ will be observed on Sundays in houses and Fridays in institutions and workplaces. Officials said that ward-level sanitation committees would prepare a list with the names of places prone to waterlogging, garbage dumps and areas known to have a prevalence of vector-borne diseases and hand it over to respective local body secretaries.
Municipalities and grama panchayats can spend a maximum of ₹30,000 per ward for cleaning activities. To prevent the spread of vector-borne diseases in areas identified as hotspots in the past couple of years, the local body can spend an additional amount of up to ₹10,000 from its own fund with the approval of the council.
The meeting has decided to initiate legal proceedings against institutions and houses that fail to follow the waste management measures recommended by the local body. “Hotspots will be identified with the help of the Health department and the information education communication (IEC) campaign will be strengthened. Details of houses and institutions that fail to manage waste properly will be collected by field-level officers of the Health department and handed over to local body secretaries for taking action,” said an official.
Officials have said that local body-level vigilance squads would take legal action against those engaged in improper waste disposal. The district enforcement squad will intensify inspections.
Apart from the District Collector, the district-level core committee comprises the District Medical Officer, Navakeralam Karma Pathadhi district coordinator, Suchitwa Mission district coordinator and district heads of various government departments.
