Corporation conservancy workers, who are doing laudable work during the lockdown, are undergoing regular health screening for symptoms associated with COVID-19.
Although short-staffed and cash-starved, the civic body is carrying out anti-pandemic operations in all 55 wards under four zones by deploying adequate men and material.
Since the second week of March, 1,077 conservancy workers and 700 anti-dengue workers or DBCs (domestic breeding checkers) have been roped in for solid waste management and other cleaning operations.
After ‘source segregation’ of domestic waste has been made compulsory, they visit every house and receive degradable and non-degradable waste and transport them to the garbage yard at Ramaiyanpatti. The conservancy workers have also been pressed into anti-virus operations carried out across the city.
More than 60% of the workers, all provided with mandatory protective equipment, are now focused on ensuring cleanliness in affected areas and at Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital, a designated institution for treatment of positive patients from Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Thoothukudi districts.
Moreover, small groups of sanitary workers are taken for cleaning operation and drawing markings at temporary vegetable markets, comprising 479 shops, to ensure personal distancing. Containment zones and areas where residents have home-quarantined themselves are also being disinfected thrice a day with their help.
“Their service to the Corporation is important during this time and we are taking care of their health by ensuring medical screening everyday. As they assemble in the morning for the day’s work, they are screened by health workers. Their body temperature is measured first. If any abnormality is found, they are taken for other tests,” says G. Kannan, Corporation Commissioner.
Other health parameters are also checked.
Meanwhile, Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish has ensured regular supply of Siddha concoctions to the workers to strengthen their immunity. She has placed order for 150 kg of nilavembu kudineer and kabasura kudineer herbal powders to be supplied to them and those in home quarantine.
The Collector has also ensured uninterrupted supply of essential commodities, including rice, grocery items and vegetables, to all conservancy workers, another official adds.