Responding to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s appeal to make use of the lockdown day for cleaning up the surroundings, local bodies across the State carried out mass clean-up programmes on Sunday.
The call was given in view of the chances of increase of vector-borne diseases once the monsoon sets in.
Cleaning activities were carried out in all the wards across local bodies in the State. Due to the pandemic situation, strict social distancing was maintained and other precautions including wearing of masks and usage of sanitisers, were made during the cleaning.
Volunteer force
A large number of youth from the newly formed ‘Sannadham’ volunteer force joined in the campaign at various places, adding to the strength of the sanitation workers of the local bodies, voluntary organisations, residents associations, and the residents in each local area.
The cleaning programme was spread across public spaces, markets, schools, anganwadis, institutions, housing colonies, and in individual households. Asha Workers and Junior Public Health Nurses visited households for mosquito source destruction activities. All objects, including coconut shells, egg shells and empty bottles, in which water can collect were removed. Pamphlets on the regular steps to be carried out at the household-level were distributed.
In Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, as much as 55 tonnes of waste were collected from across the city as part of the mass cleaning campaign, inaugurated by Mayor K. Sreekumar. A total of 789 stormwater drains were cleaned up, to ensure free flow of water during the rainy season.
Asha workers visited 1.63 lakh households. The Standing Committee chairpersons and councillors led the cleaning activities across 25 health circles. As many as 893 sanitation workers participated in the cleaning in various wards.
