Civic

50% fully vaccinated, over 10,000 refused jabs The BBMP crossed a milestone on October 5 by covering 50% its population with both doses of COVID vaccine. In Bengaluru Urban district, 58% have been fully vaccinated. But it is among the few districts in Karnataka to have covered half the population with both doses. Meanwhile, the BBMP learnt through a block-and-lane-level vaccination survey that about 10,000 people from 4,437 households have refused to get jabbed. They were identified from a survey of 76,373 households. Many from lower-income groups seemed to be afraid of side effects. The most number of unvaccinated households…

Monsoon preparedness works in the city The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has intensified its monsoon preparedness drive following rains lashing the city through the week. Officials have begun conducting inspections of stormwater drains across the city. Equipment necessary to pump out water in case of water logging is on standby with the civic body earmarking 807 pumps for this purpose. Earth movers have also been placed at river mouths in the city. Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi has also said that close to 92% of the city’s 696-km stormwater drains have been desilted in the runup to the monsoon. Despite these…

Colaba-Seepz Metro Will Be Tested at Marol-Maroshi Route By Next Year Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday, September 30th, announced trial runs of the Colaba-SEEPZ Metro rail line 3 in Mumbai that will be held underground at Marol-Maroshi, outside the Aarey green belt. "The trial runs for the Metro line 3 will be done underground at Marol-Maroshi, outside the Aarey area; later, the train will be run on the Colaba-SEEPZ line as well. After the trial runs, 31 such trains will run on the route" he said. He also instructed officials that not a single tree in Aarey should…

ICMR recommends phased opening of schools ICMR has recommended vaccinating children aged 12 and above as they face a higher risk of COVID-19 infection. In its latest set of recommendations, ICMR has suggested a phased opening of schools and implementation of multi-layered mitigation measures to ensure students' safety. An article published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, said that though children aged between one and 17 had similar susceptibility as adults to mild COVID-19 infection, the risk of severe disease and fatality in children remains low. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also released detailed guidelines…

Beautification work by Corporation Several beautification projects have been initiated in the city across localities by the Chennai Corporation. A new fountain at Marina beach has been completed and another such structure is under construction near the War Memorial and Egmore Railway Station. As part of the drive, several areas including the T Nagar pedestrian plaza will receive additional lighting. On the cards is also a facelift for parks across the city including the famous Maadi Poonga. A park with fountains is planned near Mint Flyover at an estimated cost of Rs 5 crores. Dynamic lighting has also been proposed for…

Schools, colleges to reopen from October 4 Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar has issued strict guidelines for the city's schools which are set to open for Grade 8 - 12 on October 4. The guidelines included mandates such as contact sports are disallowed, all schools and colleges have to be connected with nearby Covid centres, follow one seat for one student policy, and have 50 students capacity per class. What the SOPs are missing, as some experts point out, is how underfunded civic schools will be supported by the BMC to carry out some of these procedures. According to a Citizen…

First electric bus unveiled Bengaluru’s first electric bus, nine-metre-long and non-AC, was unveiled by Transport Minister B Sriramulu. The bus can run 120 km on a single charge, and carry 33 passengers. The BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) had got the e-bus built by the Uttar Pradesh-based JBM Auto Limited.  This is the first of 90 electric buses to be inducted by BMTC by December. Each bus will cost Rs 90 lakh, of which about Rs 60 lakh is contributed by grants from the Smart Cities Mission. Over the next three years, the fleet might expand to 500. The first…

Vaccine for children from October As per a Reuters report, children aged 12 or older will be eligible for vaccination from October. Zydus Cadila will start producing 10 million doses per month of Zy-CoVD, the world’s first DNA based vaccine, once it gets emergency use authorization from the Indian government last month. Zy-CoVD is the only vaccine India has approved for children. In another development, the Central Board of Secondary Education has decided to waive fees for children who lost their parents to COVID-19. In an official communication, CBSE has asked schools to prepare a list of such students along…

Corporation sets one month vaccination target The Greater Chennai Corporation has set a target of one month to complete the COVID-19 vaccination of all those who are over 18 years of age. To this end, the civic body has begun deploying teams to various areas of the city to carry out the vaccination. The special teams are tasked with persuading those residents who have not taken the vaccine so far. The civic body has deployed 1000 workers to carry out this task.  Vaccination numbers in the city is set to hit the 50 lakh mark in the coming week. The…

Mumbai schools to reopen post Diwali? At the last Pediatric Task Force meeting that local corporations should take the final decision of reopening schools in their areas. However, Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar on September 23rd, said that the decision of re-opening of schools in Mumbai and surrounding areas will be taken after Diwali BMC Education Officer, Raju Tadvi was quoted as stating that they are "preparing a plan for safe reopening, which will be given to all schools in the city, irrespective of which board they are affiliated to.” Under this plan, schools will be required to have a medical…