Finance
In a significant public health initiative, the Odisha government has begun a week-long Special Intensive Disinfection and Cleanliness Drive throughout the state to avoid the spread of water- and vector-borne diseases.
The campaign began on July 4 and will continue until July 11, with an emphasis on vulnerable districts.
The initiative, led by the Departments of Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) and Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water (PR&DW), includes villages, health facilities, public areas, drinking water sources, and minor water bodies used by communities.
Local PRI members, community leaders, and volunteers are helping to implement the program, which aims to boost public health measures during the monsoon season and lower the danger of diseases including malaria, dengue, and diarrhea.
To supervise the project, 18 Special Drive Teams of senior officers have been dispatched around the state. Each officer is in charge of field-level monitoring in two districts. The teams use a checklist-based methodology to assure consistency, accountability, and real-time monitoring of disinfection and cleanliness measures.
On the first day of the campaign, impressive progress was recorded:
- 55,009 tube wells, 77,334 dug wells, 98,009 piped water sources, 4,823 overhead tanks, and 1,120 other water bodies (ponds, streams, chuas, etc.) were disinfected.
- Deep cleaning was conducted in 4,436 health facilities.
- 10,251 water samples were tested for quality.
- 18 lakh ORS packets and 7.47 lakh halazone tablets were distributed.
Over 12,155 villages and hamlets completed cleanliness activities on Day 1.
In parallel, food safety inspectors visited 59 bottling factories and 1,802 roadside eateries, food vendors, and restaurants. They seized 2.87 quintals of expired food and imposed fines totalling Rs 2.22 lakh. Since the start of the season, nearly Rs 18 lakh in fines have been collected. Notably, 22 bottling factories and 24 water hotels/restaurants have been shut down due to safety concerns.
Secretaries Aswathy S. (H&FW) and Girish S.N. (PR&DW) advised all field officials to keep up the momentum and achieve 100% disinfection and cleanliness coverage by July 11.
