Thiruvananthapuram: The cabinet on Wednesday decided to take a slew of measures to counter the fever cases in the state starting with an all-party meeting on Friday.
Explaining the decisions taken at the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said district- level meetings would also be held on Friday. State-level cleanliness campaigns would be undertaken on June 27, 28 and 29. These will be conducted involving people from all walks of life to eradicate mosquitoes and destroy mosquito breeding sources.
The cabinet decided to categorise fever-affected areas into three zones-- high risk, moderate risk and low risk. A series of activities will be undertaken in the high risk areas.
The awareness campaigns and cleanliness drive would be carried out with the participation of political parties, NGOs, libraries, clubs, Kudumbasree workers, ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers, health staff, NSS, NCC, student police cadets and residents associations.
Proper cleanliness programmes will be ensured in densely populated areas which are more vulnerable to viral fever. Focus will be on educational institutions, offices, bus stations, hospitals, hotels, industrial establishments and police stations where the concentration of people is more.
In-patient facilities will be improved in hospitals where the inflow of patients is more. The unused buildings and wards in many hospitals will be converted into special fever wards and each patient would be given mosquito net.
On garbage removal, the chief minister said a concrete mechanism would be put in place soon. He urged the local bodies and people at large to ensure proper disposal of garbage.
Garbage outside CM’s residence
When a reporter pointed out that garbage was being dumped right behind Cliff House, the official residence of the chief minister, he said in a lighter vein: "There is no garbage within Cliff House. I will check if garbage is being dumped outside." Waste disposal will be taken up effectively under the Haritha Kerala Mission, he said.
Meanwhile Mayor V. K. Prasanth conducted surprise inspections at Nanthencode and Jagathy health circle offices, following complaints of waste being dumped outside Cliff House premises.
