GCC to provide vaccines for infants and pregnant women
Under Mission Indradanush 5.0, an initiative of the Union government, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is set to vaccinate infants and pregnant women. The first round of the vaccination drive will be held from August 7 to August 15. The second and third rounds of the vaccination drives will take place in September and October respectively.
The vaccines available will cover a range of illnesses such as polio, jaundice, Japanese encephalitis, whooping cough, tetanus and measles.
A door-to-door survey was carried out by the civic body to identify eligible beneficiaries. The vaccination drive will be held at all government hospitals, urban primary health centres and anganwadis from 9 am to 4 pm on the designated dates.
The vaccines will be available free of cost.
Source: The Times of India
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Dental clinics to come up in 200 wards
The Greater Chennai Corporation will set up dental clinics across the city’s 200 wards. The lack of adequate treatment facilities for dental issues was raised in council meetings of the civic body, leading to the decision to provide additional facilities focussed on dentistry.
The clinics set up will be able to provide root canal treatment and tooth extraction, among other dental issues faced by residents of Chennai.
Councillor U Nethaji Ganesan of Tondiarpet raised the issue of inadequate dental treatment facilities during the council meeting. He pointed out that while there were 140 urban primary health centres in the city, there were only 16 dental clinics. The lack of facilities is forcing residents to opt for expensive private healthcare.
In response, the Mayor assured that the facilities for dental care will be expanded across the city after a feasibility study. The clinics will be established in a phased manner.
Source: The Hindu | The Times of India
Civic body to relay damaged roads
The Greater Chennai Corporation will undertake relaying of all damaged roads across the city. The cost for the relaying is estimated to be Rs 150 and the funding will be sought from the State Finance Commission. Tenders for road laying will be issued in August.
The issue of bad roads was raised in the latest council meeting where Commissioner J Radhakrishnan assured better coordination between various agencies undertaking work on the roads. Roads that need relaying will be identified by the civic body.
In order to regulate the number of road cuts taking place, permission for road cuts will be issued online by the civic body. The permission system has been centralised, with those seeking it no longer being able to approach Zonal offices.
Read more: Explainer: How are roads in Chennai laid?
Discussions to be held for projects in North Chennai
A discussion will be held among various departments to finalise the project that is part of the Vada Chennai Valarchi Thittam announced as part of the state budget. The project has been conceptualised with the aim to bridge infrastructure and service gaps in the northern part of the city. Around 11 departments will be part of the meeting to discuss improvements in sanitation, waste management, water supply, roads, education and transport.
The finding for the project will be made available from the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) and also drawn from ongoing schemes.
The projects will cover an area of 170 sq km and benefit a population of around 26 lakhs.
Source: The New Indian Express
CMWSSB to install advanced water meters
The Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) plans to install advanced water meters for better monitoring of usage.
The body has called for a tender worth Rs 43 crore to install water meters that include sensors and transmitters and cover its water treatment and supply stations. The system will also have online monitoring at a cost of Rs 9.5 crore.
As part of an upgrade, there will also be GIS monitoring of the water supply with the monitoring of underground pipelines to fix any issues. The GIS monitoring will be set up at a cost of Rs 17.5 crore.
Source: The Times of India
[Compiled by Aruna Natarajan]