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New Indian Express
19 hours ago
- Health
- New Indian Express
No access road, Rs 1-crore PHC in Tiruchy locked despite completion
TIRUCHY: More than 25,000 residents across 41 villages, including tribal hamlets in the Pachamalai hills, await the opening of a new Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Sengattupatti in the Thuraiyur block despite its completion in January 2025. The new PHC, which was built at a cost of Rs 1.26 crore, awaits an access road. What serves as an alternative medium is an old structure built in 1989. Outside the old structure, patients and nurses sit on steel benches. Medicines are dispensed in the nearby room, where a nurse squeezes between shelves to hand out tablets and anti-rabies injections. There are no beds inside the old building and doctors often step outside to consult under a shed where the roof feels safe. "We are scared to even admit pregnant women here," said a staff member, pointing at the damp walls. For villagers, who see the locked building every day, assurances mean little. "Why build a hospital if they won't open it?" asked an elderly resident. K Selvi, a daily wage worker from Sengattupatti, who lives nearby the facility, said she had to take her grandchild with a severe stomach ache to Thuraiyur last month after the staff in PHC referred to kid GH. "I lost a day's wages and spent money for travel. If the new centre opens, we won't suffer like this," she said. For residents of tribal settlements such as Thonnur, the journey is even harsher. "We travel kilometres in two-wheelers to reach Sengattupatti, the only PHC available for us, only to be told to go further to Thuraiyur. For a simple check-up, we waste a whole day," said M Selvaraj, a tapioca farmer. Health officials acknowledged the delay. "The new PHC is complete and will be opened soon. Once the approach road becomes motorable, services will be shifted there," said a senior health department official. A Block Development Officer confirmed that road-laying work is currently under way.
Time of India
24-07-2025
- Time of India
Swachh Shock: Why Madurai hit rock bottom
Madurai: It's a paradox that stings. Madurai, an iconic heritage destination drawing more than 2.7 crore tourists annually, has found itself languishing at the bottom of Swachh Survekshan 2024–25 rankings. The temple city finds its image tarnished by overflowing bins, defunct composting units, locked public toilets, and mounting legacy waste. The nationwide survey by the ministry of housing and urban affairs flagged multiple gaps in Madurai's sanitation ecosystem — from poor door-to-door waste collection and inefficient processing to broken toilets and stalled efforts to clear legacy waste. While the city did marginally better in maintaining residential areas, market streets, and water bodies, activists say these improvements are patchy and far from sustainable. Insufficient workforce Gaps in door-to-door collection continue to plague waste management. Residents and corporation councillors blame it on the mismatch between the growing population and stagnant sanitation workforce and infrastructure. K Selvi, coordinator of Naloor Vattam NGO, said the number of sanitary workers remained the same since the 2011 census. "Sometimes they come only once in four days and also collect commercial waste during duty hours," said Ward 94 councillor R Swetha. Corporation officials say more secondary collection vehicles will be procured to bridge the transport gap from street bins to Vellaikal dumpyard. "The transition of solid waste management to private contractors has disrupted worker deployment. We are trying to address this," said a senior official. Defunct MCCs Only a fraction of Madurai's wet waste is being processed due to several micro composting centres (MCCs) being non-functional. Out of 38 MCCs, most suffer from broken motors, lack of power supply, and poor maintenance. "On paper, 100-150 tonnes of wet waste is sent, but the actual processing is much lower," a senior corporation official said on condition of anonymity. To boost processing capacity, the corporation recently signed an MoU for setting up a 610t waste-to-energy plant. "This will significantly improve our processing capability and also earn us revenue," said P Indira, city health officer. Source segregation issues Madurai currently operates only three material recovery facilities (MRFs) to handle recyclable dry waste, making source segregation a major hurdle. The corporation now plans to establish one MRF in each zone. "We're working on both awareness and infrastructure for improving segregation at the household level," said a senior official. However, low participation among residents and commercial vendors continues to hinder progress. Locked public toilets Public sanitation in high-footfall areas remains inadequate. In Mattuthavani flower and fruit markets, new toilets remain locked while open defecation persists. Women face acute challenges, with few usable facilities nearby. "Our new toilet has been locked for months, and the dump in the parking area hasn't been cleared in a week," said flower vendor P Marimuthu. Sanitary workers say they lack even basic tools and clean drinking water. Commercial hubs like East Masi Street, home to over 3,000 shops, lack accessible public toilets. "The old toilet near Vilakkuthoon was demolished for beautification and never rebuilt," said S P Jayaprakasam of the TN Foodgrains Merchants Association. While the corporation aims to declare all 100 wards as Open Defecation Free Plus Plus (ODF++), several public toilets lack water or remain locked. Early morning open defecation continues along Vaigai river and other parts of the city. Biomining Resumes One area where the corporation made measurable progress is in legacy waste removal. After a brief pause, biomining of waste dumped for decades at Vellakkal yard resumed in Feb. "About 33% of legacy waste has been cleared. Two of the seven zones are fully remediated, and work on the third is ongoing," said a senior corporation official. A senior corporation official said there are a few issues in the Swachh ranking and they are planning to reapply through the directorate of municipal administration.
