Anti-larvae drive: KMC asks govt offices to clear garbage from staff quarters, office premises

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has asked the Central and state government offices to clear garbage from staff quarters and office premises regularly, as a part of the anti-larvae drive.

A review meeting on the prevention of vector-borne diseases in the areas under the jurisdiction of KMC was held at the civic headquarters on S N Banerjee Road on Tuesday afternoon.

The meeting was attended by representatives of several Central and state government agencies, which included Kolkata Police, Metro Railway, Eastern Command, Kolkata Port Trust, Central Reserve Police Force, Chief Post master General, state Housing Board, Regional Office of Health and Family Welfare, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), BSNL, District Primary School Council and Public Works department, in charge of hospitals.

The director general of Building, Tolly's Nullah, Solid Waste Management and chief manager, Education and Personnel, also attended the meeting. The meeting was presided over by Atin Ghosh, member, Mayor-in-Council (Health), Khalil Ahmed, municipal Commissioner and Tapas Chowdhury, special commissioner, along with senior officials of the Health department, who were also present at the meeting. The next review meeting will be held in August. The civic authorities handed over the problems that have been identified in the areas under the control of these Central and state government agencies.

The civic authorities have requested the agencies to conduct garbage cleaning operation at their premises regularly. The KMC does cleaning operation outside the staff quarters and offices run by the Central and state governments and it is the responsibility of the agencies to clean garbage inside the premises under their control.

The rain water pipes should be maintained to avoid any kind of clogging and the covers of the overhead tanks should be maintained and checked regularly.

Kolkata Police has been requested to cover the damaged vehicles that are parked outside the police stations. The officers-in-charge have been requested to get in touch with the local borough offices, so that KMC teams can visit the police stations and take necessary steps.

The Kolkata Port Trust has been asked to set up an anti-larvae team and clean the housing complexes under its jurisdiction regularly.

KMC has taken up elaborate steps to conduct anti-larvae drives in the city, from January. Campaigns have been carried out to create awareness among people.

The state Urban Development department has given Rs 4 crore to carry out awareness drives and procure some equipment required for dengue and malaria detection.

"For successful launching of anti-larvae drives, cooperation of all the agencies along with people is required," said senior civic officials.