Rattled by JE, swine flu, Yogi govt orders clean up mission in UP

ALLAHABAD: Under fire over deaths due to Japanese encephalitis (JE) and swine flu in the state, the Bharatiya Janta Party and its government have announced plans to join hands for a coordinated state wide cleanliness mission from August 17-25.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath would inaugurate the drive from Gorakhpur on August 19, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya announced in Lucknow.

UP’s urban development minister Suresh Khanna said district magistrates and divisional commissioners have been asked for an extended five-day cleanliness push in 13 worst-affected AES/JE districts. BJP would also deploy office bearers in all the districts to assist the government that has been at the receiving end over mass child deaths, Maurya said in Lucknow. The BJP cadres would assist in the campaign with the party also appointing office bearers for coordinating the exercise in various districts.

The districts that have been badly hit by the spread of acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) and JE are Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Basti, Gonda, Bahraich, Maharajganj, Balrampur, Shrawasti, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Siddharth Nagar and Sant Kabir Nagar.

Chief secretary Rajive Kumar too has written to the DMs to appoint a nodal officer for each panchayat area for effective cleanliness and awareness drives during the period.

The DMs have also been asked to submit a compliance report of their respective district, along with the photographs, through e-mail by August 28. The pictures are also to be uploaded on the Facebook page of the panchayati raj department.

The order has asked the administrative officials to make a detailed plan before embarking on cleanliness and awareness mission across the districts with special attention on rural areas. The initiative will involve cleaning drains, disposing garbage and waste, preventing waterlogging, ensuring cleanliness near wells and hand-pumps and cleaning inlets of ponds.

The government has also asked the officials to make duty roster of sanitation staff to ensure effective cleaning and has given them permission to hire additional hands if the sanitation staff is not sufficient.

Other directives include sprinkling of bleaching powder, holding meetings of health, sanitation and nutrition committees and taking help of social workers and NGOs to make the mission effective.