Health Secretary pulls up officials over poor sanitation

Every village must have fogging equipment, says Poonam Malakondaiah

Taking stock: Principal Secretary (Health) Poonam Malakondaiah enquiring about the health of a child at Sitampeta as Collector Pravin Kumar and Municipal Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan look on.

Expressing displeasure over the poor sanitation in the villages in Sabbavaram mandal, Principal Secretary (Health) Poonam Malakondaiah has warned the Special Officers and secretaries of village panchayats of severe action against if hygiene is not improved in the villages.

Ms. Malakondaiah, along with MP Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao, MLA Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy and Collector Pravin Kumar, visited several villages and inspected the sanitation in view of the rampant spread of viral fevers.

She met a patient who was recovering from dengue fever at Lagisetti village of Sabbavaram mandal. Seeing cow dung and waste materials strewn around, she asked the village secretary to get them removed immediately.

Officer pulled up

Earlier, the Principal Secretary visited the Primary Health Centre at Sabbavaram and expressed displeasure at the Medical Officer for poor hygiene on the premises.

Responding to the complaint of MLA Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy that patients were going all the way to the Gopalapatnam hospital for not being satisfied with the functioning of the PHC, she said that if the situation continued, severe action would be taken against the medical officers concerned.

Later, she held a review meeting with the Collector, ZPCEO and District Panchayat Officer and directed that passive and active surveillance should be extensively conducted in all the villages. Fogging machines should be made available at all villages, she said.

Earlier, the Principal Secretary visited Seethammapeta (13th ward), Narasimha Nagar (21st ward) and Peda Jalaripeta (34th ward) in Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) limits, along with Municipal Commissioner M. Hari Narayanan.