COVID-19: New rules for containing zones; 50,029 fever camps conducted so far
On September 24th, Chennai recorded 1089 fresh COVID cases. The day also saw 1005 recoveries and 15 deaths.
In a fresh development, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has removed all containment zones in its limits. According to the updated regulations, a street will be declared as a containment zone if there are three index cases reported and if the contacts are untraceable. An index case is defined as the first case in a family or other defined group to have come to the attention of the investigator. The civic body has stated that at least 30% infections had been index cases.
The civic body has conducted 50,029 fever camps in the city as on Wednesday and identified 1.54 lakh patients with influenza-like illnesses (ILI). Among the persons who visited the fever camp, 24,224 people tested positive for the virus. The test positivity rate at the fever camps is 15%.
In a competition organised by the Consortium of Accredited Healthcare Organisations, India (CAHO), the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Estate, has bagged an award for workplace safety during COVID-19. The hospital was recognised for taking special measures and strictly adhering to practices aimed towards worker and patient safety.
Source: The Hindu | The Times of India
Residents evicted amid pandemic
Amid the pandemic, the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board (TNSCB) begun razing the old Slum Board tenements at Kuppaimedu, Mandaveli. The settlement had 344 houses, all of which have been demolished.
According to the residents, the eviction drive was carried out despite there being COVID-19 patients isolated within their tenements. The evicted residents have had difficulties finding houses for rent and fear displacement even as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana scheme, the area will be developed in-situ to accommodate 500 houses. However, the residents note that they have not been allotted any alternative accommodation till the reconstruction is done. The TNSCB officials state that the residents were given time to vacate before the lockdown; however they did not oblige.
Source: The New Indian Express
Rise in number of stray dogs
As the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has been using all its manpower capacity to battle COVID-19 for the past six months, other tasks and collaborations have come to a halt. As a result, the number of stray dogs has increased during the period.
According to the data available, the civic body sterilised only 2,451 stray dogs from April to August this year. There have been 2,180 fewer sterlisations in 2019-2020 compared to the previous year. As the NGOs working alongside the civic body halted the sterilisation programme to focus on COVID-19, the number of strays has increased.
Activists state that the corporation should sterilise as many dogs as it can in a short time to ensure the numbers do not go up. The sterilisation programme in Valasaravakkam, Adyar, Perungudi and Alandur zones is done by Blue Cross while the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) sterilises the dogs in Ambattur zone. However, due to a delay in payments, the NGOs have temporarily halted the work.
Source: The Times of India
Water bodies to be restored by October 10th
In a bid to reduce water stagnation during the monsoon season, the civic body has taken up 20 water bodies for eco-restoration by October 10th. The list of water bodies include Manjampakkam pond in Manali; Srinivasanagar kulam and Padavatamman koil kulam in Madhavaram; Ganapathy Nagar tank, Vannan kulam, Menambedu Thangal tank, Perumal Koil Street pond, Patravakkam periya kulam and Zone Office pond in Ambattur; Chettitiyar Agaram pond, Sivabootham, Linga kulam, and Porur Anjaneyar koil kulam in Valasaravakkam.
In the south zones, Nasan kulam, Varadharajapuram pond, Jeyachandra Nagar pond in Perungudi and Vannan kulam, Kazura Garden pond, Raman Thangal and Thanthoniamman koil kulam in Sholinganallur will be restored.
Source: The Hindu
Monsoon woes in the suburbs
With monsoon round the corner, residents of suburbs like Tambaram, Pallavaram and Mudichur in the southern part of the city are worried about the poor maintenance of stormwater drains (SWD) and sewer networks. Residents living in the localities state that the monsoon preparedness carried out by the respective local bodies is not on par with GCC.
Officials from Pallavaram Municipality, however, stated that desilting of canal and culverts has already been done as part of their monsoon preparedness activity.
Residents of Adambakkam and Nanganallur are also pressing for the government to carry out the restoration process of Adambakkam Lake to prevent flooding. It is to be noted that the lake is one of the three chosen lakes for eco-restoration project by the state government. However, residents rue that the water body has been neglected for over a decade.
Source: The Hindu
(Compiled by Bhavani Prabhakar)
The Main road running between the Cooum and Annanagar, from the Neduvankarai Bridge to AL Block consists of various “Nagars”.These “nagars” are impromptu shanty towns where basic hygiene is thrown to the winds due to the presence of numerous temples and shrines influencing the residents to carry out acts of “charity” such as feeding stray dogs and birds by placing food on the streets and sidewalks.It is also the home to a herd of cows which are left free to feed themselves from garbage dumps and from food left on the streets but are actually owned and milked commercially by a group of people from this area. Abandoned and cannibalised cars line the street making it impossible for the streets to be swept and cleaned. The entire middle class residential area covering Blocks AH, AI, AJ, AK are covered with excreta from these animals and these activities, rendering it extremely unhygienic. The civic authorities should take early action to stop these filthy goings-on immediately.