Lymphatic filariasis on its last legs in Tamilnadu

 

        Lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis, is well on its way towards being eliminated in Tamil Nadu.

          “With the micro filarial rate dropping every year, it has reached a new low - 0.07 per cent - in 2011. The MF rate is the number of cases that test positive among all those screened in the community,” explains G.K. Durairaj, Additional Director (Malaria and Filaria), Directorate of Public Health.

      Filariasis is mostly manifest as elephantiasis, a thickening of the skin and tissues of the legs, or lower body, though different worms can affect different parts of the body. The disease-causing ‘filariea' are spread by culex mosquitoes that breed in dirty and stagnant water. In Tamil Nadu, 13 districts are said to be endemic to filariasis, and this is where prevention activity has been centered. These districts are Chennai, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruchy, Villuppurm, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai and Kanyakumari. Among these, the Tirupattur area in Vellore district and Thiruvannamalai were felt to be crucial segments.

         The reason for the drop is a combination of public health efforts, Dr. Durairaj said. While fogging, anti larval and anti adult mosquito biocides spraying, and encouraging the use of mosquito nets is on regularly, what has turned the tide is probably the Mass Drug Administration (MDA) programme held periodically. Under this programme, DEC (Diethyl Carbamazine) and Albendazole tablets are given to people in the age group 2 to 60 years in the endemic areas. “Every year one dose of both these drugs is given to patients as per WHO recommendation. This will kill any microfilaria presence effectively and reduce the filariasis load in the community,” R.T. Porkaipandian, Director of Public Health, explained.

         MDA was started first in Cuddalore district in 1998, in an effort to stem the tide of rising lymphatic filariasis cases. “Generally, MDAs are not conducted if the prevalence is less than one per cent. However, the State continues to do so though we reached an MF rate of 0.38 per cent in 2005 itself. This was just to ensure that the disease is eliminated,” he said. 

             Given the performance over the last few years, and the dropping rates, it is likely that there may be just one more MDA, to be held in Tamil Nadu, Dr. Porkaipandian added. “It may be safe to stop with just this one round, since we are at 0.07 per cent. Of course, a formal decision is yet to be taken in this regard.” In contrast, the incidence of malaria, continues to remain a concern, especially in Chennai city and Rameswaram (in Ramanathapuram). About 14,000 cases are reported every year in the State. Additional manpower and strengthening of supervision is planned to reduce the burden, with the assistance of National Rural Health Mission, in Rameswaram, Dr. Durairaj said. 

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Coal Ministry to play fair in NTPC-NLC tussle for coal blocks

    

    NLC’s request would be considered along with other companies at the time of bidding for blocks.

  In the tussle for coal blocks between power generator NTPC Ltd and Lignite miner Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC), the coal ministry has decided to play fair. It will entertain its public sector undertaking NLC's request for the allocation of blocks that earlier belonged to NTPC, only along with other companies during the bidding rounds that are due soon.

        The ministry had cancelled the allocation of five of the eight NTPC blocks earlier this year, alleging undue delays in their development. The power ministry had later intervened by requesting its coal sector counterpart to review its decision. While negotiations between the two ministries are still on, NLC has sought the allocation of three of the five blocks—Chatti Bariatu, Chatti Bariatu (South) and Kerandari.

        A senior coal ministry official told Business Standard there was no provision for allocating the blocks to NLC on a nomination basis. “There is a proper procedure that will be followed for allocation. NLC's request would be considered along with other companies at the time of bidding for blocks,” he said.

           The three blocks sought by NLC for power generation are located in Jharkhand and have combined reserves of over 800 million tonne (Mt). NLC's contentious demands, if met, would mark Lignite miner's foray into coal mining and coal-based power generation. It would also dent NTPC's long-term fuel securing strategy. NLC has a current lignite-based power generation capacity of 2,700 Mw and it plans to add another 5,000 Mw by setting up two coal-based plants of 2,000 Mw capacity each in Uttar Pradesh and Tamilnadu, and another 1,000 Mw plant in Tamilnadu. NLC's proposed plants would require around 20 Mt of coal annually. An e-mail sent to NLC Chairman A R Ansari for comments remained unanswered.

           NTPC is, however, hopeful of getting back the lost blocks. “NTPC is working full swing on these blocks on land acquisition, forest and environment clearance and we do not think our blocks would be taken,” said a senior company official. The Maharatna enterprise currently consumes around 150 Mt of coal to operate 36,000 Mw capacity annually. Its coal requirement is set to grow to 250 Mt by 2017, around 20 per cent of which would be met through captive coal production.

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Industrial saftey begins at home: NLC Chairman

        The Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) has a remarkable safety record and an excellent supervisor - worker ratio of 1:6, the highest in the country, said its chairman and managing director A R Ansari.

He was speaking at function organised here recently to celebrate ‘Safety Week’.

         Stating that industrial safety began at home, Ansari said even a small disturbance due to a less conducive environment at home will disturb the concentration of employees leading to accidents and damage in the workplace. D Sengupta, Deputy Director General Mines Safety/Southern Zone, Bengaluru, who was the chief guest, said that most of the accidents occurred due to human error. He suggested collection of data of accidents and analysing them to sort out the causes and factors.

        By this systematic analysis, one could identify the vulnerable areas and improve the working conditions on safety by deploying more number of supervisors, thus nullifying accidents, he added. The TN and Kerala Mines Safety Association is creating safety awareness among the mine employees, especially in the unorganised sectors. Every year, the association celebrates Safety Week at all 331 mines in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.Five units of NLC, viz, all the three thermal power stations, mechanical services and central workshop, have had a zero accident rate in 2010.

          Based on the maximum number of man days, Thermal Power Station-II was awarded the Chairman’s shield for reduction in injury rate among the production units, while central workshop bagged the Director (Mine)’s Shield for reduction in the injury rate among service units. Thermal Power Station-I, Thermal Power Station-I Expansion and Mechanical Services Department were also honoured with special awards. Also, Thermal Power Station -I Expansion received special appreciation for achieving ‘zero-accident’ for five consecutive years.

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