As is the leader so are the followers. Jayalalitha is known for virtually covering up her the inefficiency of her regime by boasting of and trumpeting about some nominal but showy measure. While the people of almost all parts of the State are undergoing ordeals for getting drinking water, instead of drawing drinking water projects and gearing up her administrative machinery to execute them at lightning speed to quench the thirst of people, she has launched with much fanfare ‘Amma Kudineer’ selling bottled water for Rs.10 each.
It is the duty of the State government to provide the basic need of people by supplying protected drinking water not only to residents but also to long distance bus passengers as one percent of the bus fare collected from them goes to the local bodies for providing drinking water and maintaining toilets in bus stands. So selling drinking water in bus stands by the government is not only shirking of responsibility but much more cheating the people of their money.
But the curse of people of the State is that except the DMK no other party condemned this action of this regime and the media, which should have enlightened the masses about their right to get drinking water in bus stands and areas, instead went publicising the reception for the water bottles from people, of course who could afford to. Usually the communist parties were used to take up such issues for agitations but again the ‘curse’ of people here is that both Communist parties consciously do not displease their benefactor-lady. While CPM Politbureau member Brinda Karat assailed the move of State government ‘selling’ drinking water, the leaders of that party in Tamil Nadu did not dare to even mildly criticise it. But CPI’s D.Pandian, Tamil Nadu’s Joseph Goebbels, commended Jayalalitha for selling a bottle of water ‘just’ for one rupee while the Railways under the Centre was selling for Rs.15.
Another gimmick resorted to by Jayalalitha is the opening of heavily subsidised canteens run by her regime through Chennai Corporation, ‘Amma Unavagams’. This is a shameless admission of the inability and incapacity of her regime to contain price rise of essential articles. When millions of poor and downtrodden people are finding it difficult to meet both ends with their meagre incomes, feeding a few thousand in Chennai at cheaper rates would only amount to what in Tamil is said as “flèš fiu¤j bgU§fha«“ (asafoetida mixed in sea). Of course no political party can openly criticise the move, but the media, which talk so much about macro and micro economics, can at least desist from lauding the superficial measure instead of addressing the root cause by the State government. The DMK government sold subsidised pulses and edible oil through PDS outlets which would reach all people and provide some relief. But this regime has stopped it and instead started this showy manouvres in the city. In order to please the ego of Jayalalitha, the Chennai Corporation administration has engaged most of its workers and staff in this canteen works instead of attending to its basic civic duties.
If the Chief Minister can resort to such showy gimmicks to cover up the ineptitude of her regime, why not her party’s Mayor of Chennai Corporation? Chennai city, under his stewardship, has acquired the notorious title of ‘Mosquito capital’. Chennai is growing, so too its problems. Mosquitoes and garbage continue to be regular issues covered in all the dailies and area papers thanks to the poor show by Chennai Corporation. The city was clean till two years back and is now a breeding ground for mosquitoes and rodents.
And hardly anything has been done to sort out the issue over the last two years. The city corporation earlier spoke about a scientific solution to handle the winged menace. At least half-a-dozen technical initiatives were said to have been taken up to deal with mosquitoes and to reduce the incidence of dengue and malaria but they failed to address the menace. Later, the corporation held discussions with stakeholders and planned to install biomaterials that would attract insects and electrocute them, but nothing materialised.
For the past two years, the tale of mosquito breeding and larvae control in the city remains a mystery. In fact, the National Institute of Malaria Research has identified Chennai as an endemic area for malaria. Last month, the Union Health Ministry ranked Tamil Nadu as the leading state with high prevalence of dengue.
According to official data, a good number of malaria cases are from the coastal areas of the city including Tondiarpet, Washermanpet, Royapuram, Harbour, Elephant Gate, Mannady and Pulianthope, and now, with the city corporation being extended from 174 to 426 square kilometers, the number of malaria cases will certainly shoot up.
The Tamil Nadu Public health Act of 1939 states that no person shall have, keep or maintain within such area any collection of standing or flowing water in which mosquitoes breed or likely to breed. But in Chennai the biggest violator of this Act is the Corporation. Drains are not covered and left open in many corporation areas. Several government departments follow the list that benefits mosquito breeding.Mosquitoes can migrate up to half-a-km and raid nearby houses infecting residents, explains an entomologist.
Residents of various areas in the city said that though staff from the Chennai Corporation regularly visit and spray insecticides in her locality, it seem to be of little help in containing the problem. The mosquitoes seem to be immune to what they spray. Perhaps it is time to change to something stronger.
Residents blamed the increase in the mosquito population on the uncleared garbage, inadequate fogging and stagnant water in canals. They say that barring a few hours in the day, the mosquitoes pose problems. They have to constantly use a bat to catch the insects. “Mosquito liquid repellents (vapourisers) and coils give us headache and suffocation. We are waiting for something new from the mosquito repellent manufacturers.”
A photograph showing Chief Minister Jayalalitha speaking in the Assembly showed two UV lights for attracting and killing mosquito and flies kept by her side and workers are seen standing with mosquito bats to drive away the flies disturbing the CM. If this is the condition the Chief Minister has to put up with, that too in the citadel of power in the State, the least need to be said about the sufferings of Chennai residents and people in the State.
The corporation under ADMK administration has failed to regularly desilt Adyar, Cooum, Buckingham canals passing through the city which have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and installed mosquito breeding centres in each street through the garbage collection centres covered with high metal partitions, created by the present Mayor. As flood water drain canals were not desilted before the dawn of monsoon flood waters stagnated in several areas for weeks together for mosquitoes to breed menacingly. Sewers also overflow due to failure to regularly desilt and sewage water stagnate on the sides of roads, another source of mosquito breeding.
Treading the path of his leader, the ADMK Mayor of Chennai Corporation, in admission of their failure to control mosquito menace, if not totally eradicate the flies, has resorted to the ‘cover up’ strategy through distribution of mosquito nets to poor people. As usual, lauding the move CPI State Secretary D. Pandian asked the government to distribute them to poor people all over the State so that they can at least sleep peacefully after hectic work all through the day time. But how could people put up with the menace during the day time and evenings during their routine works?
There is a saying ‘What can’t be cured must be endured”. The Jayalalitha regime has invented a new modus vivendi for its existence; “What can’t be cured must be covered up”!
It is the duty of the State government to provide the basic need of people by supplying protected drinking water not only to residents but also to long distance bus passengers as one percent of the bus fare collected from them goes to the local bodies for providing drinking water and maintaining toilets in bus stands. So selling drinking water in bus stands by the government is not only shirking of responsibility but much more cheating the people of their money.
But the curse of people of the State is that except the DMK no other party condemned this action of this regime and the media, which should have enlightened the masses about their right to get drinking water in bus stands and areas, instead went publicising the reception for the water bottles from people, of course who could afford to. Usually the communist parties were used to take up such issues for agitations but again the ‘curse’ of people here is that both Communist parties consciously do not displease their benefactor-lady. While CPM Politbureau member Brinda Karat assailed the move of State government ‘selling’ drinking water, the leaders of that party in Tamil Nadu did not dare to even mildly criticise it. But CPI’s D.Pandian, Tamil Nadu’s Joseph Goebbels, commended Jayalalitha for selling a bottle of water ‘just’ for one rupee while the Railways under the Centre was selling for Rs.15.
Another gimmick resorted to by Jayalalitha is the opening of heavily subsidised canteens run by her regime through Chennai Corporation, ‘Amma Unavagams’. This is a shameless admission of the inability and incapacity of her regime to contain price rise of essential articles. When millions of poor and downtrodden people are finding it difficult to meet both ends with their meagre incomes, feeding a few thousand in Chennai at cheaper rates would only amount to what in Tamil is said as “flèš fiu¤j bgU§fha«“ (asafoetida mixed in sea). Of course no political party can openly criticise the move, but the media, which talk so much about macro and micro economics, can at least desist from lauding the superficial measure instead of addressing the root cause by the State government. The DMK government sold subsidised pulses and edible oil through PDS outlets which would reach all people and provide some relief. But this regime has stopped it and instead started this showy manouvres in the city. In order to please the ego of Jayalalitha, the Chennai Corporation administration has engaged most of its workers and staff in this canteen works instead of attending to its basic civic duties.
If the Chief Minister can resort to such showy gimmicks to cover up the ineptitude of her regime, why not her party’s Mayor of Chennai Corporation? Chennai city, under his stewardship, has acquired the notorious title of ‘Mosquito capital’. Chennai is growing, so too its problems. Mosquitoes and garbage continue to be regular issues covered in all the dailies and area papers thanks to the poor show by Chennai Corporation. The city was clean till two years back and is now a breeding ground for mosquitoes and rodents.
And hardly anything has been done to sort out the issue over the last two years. The city corporation earlier spoke about a scientific solution to handle the winged menace. At least half-a-dozen technical initiatives were said to have been taken up to deal with mosquitoes and to reduce the incidence of dengue and malaria but they failed to address the menace. Later, the corporation held discussions with stakeholders and planned to install biomaterials that would attract insects and electrocute them, but nothing materialised.
For the past two years, the tale of mosquito breeding and larvae control in the city remains a mystery. In fact, the National Institute of Malaria Research has identified Chennai as an endemic area for malaria. Last month, the Union Health Ministry ranked Tamil Nadu as the leading state with high prevalence of dengue.
According to official data, a good number of malaria cases are from the coastal areas of the city including Tondiarpet, Washermanpet, Royapuram, Harbour, Elephant Gate, Mannady and Pulianthope, and now, with the city corporation being extended from 174 to 426 square kilometers, the number of malaria cases will certainly shoot up.
The Tamil Nadu Public health Act of 1939 states that no person shall have, keep or maintain within such area any collection of standing or flowing water in which mosquitoes breed or likely to breed. But in Chennai the biggest violator of this Act is the Corporation. Drains are not covered and left open in many corporation areas. Several government departments follow the list that benefits mosquito breeding.Mosquitoes can migrate up to half-a-km and raid nearby houses infecting residents, explains an entomologist.
Residents of various areas in the city said that though staff from the Chennai Corporation regularly visit and spray insecticides in her locality, it seem to be of little help in containing the problem. The mosquitoes seem to be immune to what they spray. Perhaps it is time to change to something stronger.
Residents blamed the increase in the mosquito population on the uncleared garbage, inadequate fogging and stagnant water in canals. They say that barring a few hours in the day, the mosquitoes pose problems. They have to constantly use a bat to catch the insects. “Mosquito liquid repellents (vapourisers) and coils give us headache and suffocation. We are waiting for something new from the mosquito repellent manufacturers.”
A photograph showing Chief Minister Jayalalitha speaking in the Assembly showed two UV lights for attracting and killing mosquito and flies kept by her side and workers are seen standing with mosquito bats to drive away the flies disturbing the CM. If this is the condition the Chief Minister has to put up with, that too in the citadel of power in the State, the least need to be said about the sufferings of Chennai residents and people in the State.
The corporation under ADMK administration has failed to regularly desilt Adyar, Cooum, Buckingham canals passing through the city which have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and installed mosquito breeding centres in each street through the garbage collection centres covered with high metal partitions, created by the present Mayor. As flood water drain canals were not desilted before the dawn of monsoon flood waters stagnated in several areas for weeks together for mosquitoes to breed menacingly. Sewers also overflow due to failure to regularly desilt and sewage water stagnate on the sides of roads, another source of mosquito breeding.
Treading the path of his leader, the ADMK Mayor of Chennai Corporation, in admission of their failure to control mosquito menace, if not totally eradicate the flies, has resorted to the ‘cover up’ strategy through distribution of mosquito nets to poor people. As usual, lauding the move CPI State Secretary D. Pandian asked the government to distribute them to poor people all over the State so that they can at least sleep peacefully after hectic work all through the day time. But how could people put up with the menace during the day time and evenings during their routine works?
There is a saying ‘What can’t be cured must be endured”. The Jayalalitha regime has invented a new modus vivendi for its existence; “What can’t be cured must be covered up”!
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