THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid Covid and Zika scare, mandatory house and apartment visits by the health authorities is causing concern among residents.Move aims to identify mosquito-breeding grounds and destroy them, but punishes anyone who ‘obstructs the duty’ under Kerala Public Health Ordinance.Citizens claim, the increase in vector-borne diseases is because of corp’s inability to manage waste and conduct fogging activities
Recently, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) ordered a mandatory inspection of all households and flats by officials from local bodies to screen and destroy mosquito breeding sources. The plan is to inspect every house once a week and serve notices to residents. Anyone obstructing the duty of the health workers would be punished under the Kerala Public Health Ordinance.
The move comes after nearly 17 cases of the Zika virus were reported in the district. A meeting convened by the District Collector has entrusted the Ward Health Sanitation Committees (WHSC) with source reduction activities. However, the order hasn’t gone down well with the residents. Many believe that unscientific waste handling, ineffective fogging and cleaning activities are the primary cause of the growing number of vectors in the capital. According to the residents, house visits amid the pandemic is a foolish decision.
“The corporation is not doing its part to make the city safe and clean. There is a huge drain in front of our apartment that they haven’t fogged. Instead of barging into homes, they should clean the drains and public spaces filled with waste,” said Sathyanathan (name changed), a resident of an apartment complex near DPI. “The government has locked us inside. In our flat, guests are denied entry. At a time like this, crashing into our homes is not the right thing to do. We are also concerned about our health and trying our best to keep our flats clean. They should ideally give notice to the apartment secretary or the president of the apartment complexes to make the residents aware,” he added.
Blame games begin!
The District Medical Officer (DMO) blames the ineffective health wing of the corporation for the growing mosquito population and raised concerns about eradication activities. “The health wing under the civic body is inactive and we don’t think they are doing their job properly. They are more interested in issuing trade licenses and inspecting eateries. They should go back to basics and focus on sanitation more,” said a senior health official.
The official added that since the lockdown started, residents have taken up indoor gardening. They know enough to keep their surroundings clean and wear full-sleeve clothes to protect themselves from mosquito bites. “Our hospitals are overwhelmed because of the pandemic and if Zika virus spreads, it could become a catastrophe,” the official added.
“Many schools and office buildings have turned into mosquito breeding grounds. We have directed the local authorities to eliminate these. There are ill-maintained private plots and the owners should be served notices,” said a senior health official.
P Ashok Kumar, a senior member of the corporation council, also said the civic body should do their work properly instead of booking the residents for not maintaining hygiene. “When we request health authorities to move waste, they say they have no transportation facilities. We are ready to hire vehicles, but there is no place to cart away the garbage. All this is creating an ideal environment for mosquito breeding,” said Ashok.
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEET TO DISCUSS VECTOR CONTROL MEASURES
The City Corporation has prepared an action plan to eliminate mosquito breeding sources in households in the wake of Zika scare. The health wing has proposed Rs 250 fine on residents who do not comply with the instructions of health workers. A senior official of the health wing said that the action plan would be implemented only after getting clearance from the corporation council. The civic body is planning to constitute a 10-member team under the ward level sanitation committee to carry out visits to all wards with around 3,500 households each. “We will be dividing each ward into seven divisions and the team would visit an average of 500 homes per day. We have proposed Rs 300 as their payment for visiting one house,” said the official.