Health inspectors asked to sport uniform

Mayor Soumini Jain has said that health inspectors in the city should henceforth sport uniform.

She announced this in keeping with the sentiments expressed by councillors at a council meeting held here on Saturday. Ms. Jain said it would highlight the seriousness of their functioning and added that health officials had ignored earlier directions in this regard.

Health squads were asked to intensify inspections at hotels and eateries over the next three months to verify whether they operated in hygienic conditions.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition K.J. Antony said the uniform would reinforce the authority of health inspectors while councillor K.R. Premkumar said it would serve as a protective shield for officials conducting inspections.

Ms. Jain said a joint meeting of hotel owners, political parties, trade unions, educational institutions, residents’ associations and other stakeholders would be held at the Town Hall on Tuesday to discuss ways to go about the three-day intensive sanitation campaign declared by the State government.

It will be followed by a separate meeting of doctors at the council hall in the evening. Funds to the tune of ₹25,000 each would be provided to every councillor to organise sanitation works and mosquito eradication campaigns while another ₹5,000 would be given to distribute preventive medicines either through existing homoeo clinics or through medical camps.

Ms. Jain asked the works standing committee to submit a progress report on the cleaning of canals at the next council meeting to verify whether the cleaning of smaller drains, which were the source of mosquitoes, were yet to be started in any division.

Health inspectors were asked to serve notice to institutions and individuals found guilty of dumping waste along roads. The health department was asked to find out the means of waste treatment by households and institutions, which were not part of the centralised waste collection system of the corporation.