Ward-level action plan gets council’s nod

Thiruvananthapuram: In the wake of Zika outbreak in the city, the special council meeting held here on Tuesday approved the ward-level action plan to check the spread.
Each ward would be divided into seven blocks and 10-member teams will be deployed to visit houses and institutions for source-level reduction. A register shall be maintained in which reports on source-level reduction will be recorded. Seven blocks will be covered within a week.
Health inspectors and junior health inspectors shall identify owners of plots with overgrown grass and notice shall be served to such persons. Mosquito breeding spots shall be identified and eradication measures shall be undertaken in scrap shops, punctured tyre repair shops, tender coconut vending shops and the like, the action plan states. Mass fogging shall also be carried out such places.
Meanwhile, the special council which dragged on for nearly five hours saw veteran councillor Palayam Rajan taking on health officials for their absence in the council meeting.
One of the senior health officials had to leave following a personal emergency and with no other official attending the meeting, Rajan called it an act of serious negligence.
He said that the mayor should censure such officials and the demand was backed by opposition councillors also. Earlier, BJP councillors’ scavenger remark also triggered a row in the special council. While pointing out lapses in clearing of garbage piles in the city, a BJP councillor derisively remarked that councillors have to do the work of scavengers.
LDF councillors steadfastly objected to the way the BJP councillor dishonoured a group of people engaged in a particular profession. The councillor later withdrew the remark.
The action plan for mosquito eradication will be implemented from July 15.