Polio Immunisation Programme On February 1
Mayor R. Venkatachalam called upon all the councillors in the Coimbatore Corporation on Thursday to involve in the pulse polio immunisation programme on February 1.The Mayor’s call came in the backdrop of the previous programme on December 21 getting derailed by rumours of a child dying after taking the oral polio drops at Sathyamangalam in the neighbouring Erode district.
The councillors should tell the people in their wards that the polio drops were safe. The drops would be administered to children in the 0-5 age group at 196 immunisation centres across the city. The councillors should monitor the programme at the centre in their wards, the Mayor said. Corporation Health Committee Chairman P. Nachimuthu told the Mayor that the councillors had did their best at the immunisation centres on December 21 to contain the damage caused by the rumours. They would involve themselves fully on February 1 also to ensure that the immunisation was total, he said.
Members of various parties voiced apprehension over the deteriorating sanitation in the city and attributed this to the lack of adequate workers. They also said that this was the reason for the worsening of the mosquito menace. There were not enough conservancy workers to remove blocks in the storm water drains and stagnant water served as breeding space for mosquitoes, Corporation North Zone Chairman C. Padmanabhan said. Independent councillor N. Revathi said Sanitary Inspectors must be asked to warn residents against letting waste water into storm water drains instead of the underground drainage. She also wanted to know how far the Corporation had progressed in buying equipment to remove blocks in underground sewers.
It took a month to repair the only equipment that the Corporation had, because the technician had to come from Chennai. When three more equipment would be purchased, as per a resolution passed by the Council, the Corporation should also ensure that facilities and technicians for repair were available in Coimbatore.
