CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay has directed district-level officials to use drones to survey roads, stormwater drains, and bridges and carry out maintenance work ahead of the northeast monsoon.
The directions were issued during a review meeting at the secretariat on Monday. During the meeting, officials were instructed to identify areas vulnerable to sea-water intrusion, coastal erosion and flooding, and to ensure that the weather and sea warnings reach people on time.
During such warnings, those in vulnerable areas including the fishermen should be evacuated to safer locations, Vijay said. He said relief shelters should be kept ready with adequate drinking water, food, and medical facilities among others. Emergency response teams at the district level should also be kept ready with boats, ropes, generators and motor pumps in vulnerable areas, the CM said.
The officials were asked to ensure that emergency communication equipment, including satellite phones remain functional. Vijay also directed that the harvested paddy must be protected in the warehouse during rainfall.
Following the meeting, Minister KA Sengottaiyan submitted the report prepared by the expert advisory committee on the El Nino climate phenomenon and disaster management.
As a part of dengue prevention and mosquito control measures, the CM has directed district-level officials across the state to identify and focus on high-risk areas and undertake immediate preventive action.
He instructed the officials to deploy domestic breeding checkers for door-to-door inspections, identify and eliminate Aedes mosquito breeding sites, and carry out larval-control measures to prevent the spread of dengue.
The government hospitals and primary health centres were directed to be well-equipped to detect dengue cases at early stages and to conduct laboratory and clinical tests, along with the facilities for the treatment of severe dengue cases.
GCC conducts door-to-door inspection at 11L houses
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) on Monday said that in the past six days, door-to-door inspection at 11.02 lakh houses was conducted across 15 zones in the city. Mosquito breeding sites, which were identified at 4,192 houses, have been removed ahead of the northeast monsoon. According to an official release, 15 zonal health officials, 15 entomologists, 44 health staff, 200 conservancy inspectors, 35 field assistants, alongside 3,697 domestic breeding checkers have been deployed across the city for monsoon preparedness works. Nearly 521 pressure sprayers, 49 power sprayers, 132 battery sprayers, 15 vehicle-mounted sprayers, 272 hand-operated foggers, 200 mini foggers, and 92 vehicle-mounted foggers are being used for the preventive measures. ENS