Dengue outbreak in north Chennai
Over 350 cases of dengue were reported in the city in September, with a particular spike in areas like Royapuram and Tondiarpet in north Chennai. Officially, the highest number of cases — 25 –were reported in Tondiarpet. However, the government has been criticised for under-reporting dengue cases and classifying many such as undiagnosed fevers. Officials attribute the rise in incidence to intermittent episodes of rain in the city, but inadequate garbage clearance and gaps in civic infrastructure in the densely populated regions of northern Chennai have also had a role to play.
However, health officials also say that often people do not follow the practices taught to keep dengue-like diseases at bay. Deputy Commissioner of Health, Madhusudan P Reddy has admitted that dengue incidence this year has risen by 8 to 9%. According to him, there were 80 people with dengue last September, while this year, 90 cases have been confirmed in Chennai.
Source: The Hindu | The NewsMinute
Chennai’s key railway stations rank low in cleanliness ranking
Three key railway stations in the city, MGR Central, Egmore and Tambaram stations have slipped in the ranking of stations, compared to the previous year in the Swachh Rail, Swachh Bharat 2019 report. Central station was ranked 58 (36 in 2018), Egmore at 149 (27) and Tambaram ranked 321 (62) in the current year report. Southern Railway zone has slipped to 12th position from the previous year ranking of 7. The 2019 report studied 720 railways stations across India.
Source: The Times of India
First tertiary treatment RO plant inaugurated
According to officials of Metro Water, Chennai will now be the first city to recycle sewage and supply water to the industries as the first Tertiary Treatment Reverse Osmosis (TTRO) plant becomes operational in the city. The plant was inaugurated by Chief Minister E K Palaniswamy early this week.
Located at Kodungaiyur, the plant has a capacity to treat 45 million litres sewage daily and will send the treated water to industries at Manali, Minjur and Ennore. The 40 MLD of freshwater hitherto supplied by Metro Water to the industries will then be used for drinking water needs and will be rerouted to areas like Tiruvottiyur, Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Madhavaram, Manali, Chintadripet, Purasawalkam, Egmore, T Nagar and Mambalam.
Source: The New Indian Express
Two new fishing harbours off ECR
Alambaraikuppam in Kancheepuram district and Alagankuppam in Villupuram district, located on either side of the Kazhuveli backwaters, off the ECR will get two fishing harbours.
Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar said the fishing harbours would have an auction hall, a fish selling space, a fish drying space and a dry dock.
The Minister also said that facilities were being created at Tiruvottiyurkuppam, where a tuna harbour was coming up at ₹200 crore, and another ₹10 crore-worth works, including a wharf, selling sheds and auction halls for small fishermen were being constructed at Kasimedu.
Source: The Hindu
Fate of 23000 saplings planted, unknown
Around 23,000 saplings were planted post the Vardah aftermath. Sadly, the fate of these saplings is unknown as the city corporation has no data on the maintenance or survival of the saplings.
As part of the contract work, the contractors have to maintain these saplings for a period of one year. The first phase of planting the tree saplings in 209 arterial roads of the city began in August 2018, and there is no information on the survival rate of these saplings. The project was undertaken at a cost of Rs 5.29 crore.
Source: The New Indian Express
[Compiled by Sandhya Raju]