The integrated pandemic and disaster risk management project for the urban poor in the Kosasthalaiyar basin is aimed at improving health infrastructure in north Chennai.
After the December 2015 floods, the Greater Chennai Corporation slotted the expanded city into the basins of the Kosasthalaiyar, Adyar, Cooum and Kovalam so as to establish storm drains. The Asian Development Bank’s proposal to give a grant for COVID-19 containment activities was grabbed by the civic body for boosting the health infrastructure in these areas.
A senior official of the civic body says that unlike the other parts of the city, the four zones have people with the lowest income, grappling with the drawbacks of poor transport, healthcare and education.
Hence, it was proposed to use the funds for creating health amenities on the wheels. The civic body proposes to launch two mobile medical and diagnostic units each for the four zones.
A centralised processing and testing laboratory, linking the eight mobile units, will be established in the Madhavaram zone at a cost of ₹1.20 crore.
