The Coimbatore Corporation has given owners of poorly maintained private vacant plots 15 days to clear garbage, waste and overgrown vegetation from their premises. If they fail to do so, the civic body will undertake the cleaning and recover the cost from the owners as a penalty.

The Corporation said some vacant plots within the city limits were being left unmaintained, resulting in the accumulation of garbage and other waste. Such plots could become a source of foul odour and mosquito breeding, posing a risk of the spread of infections, it said.

Corporation health inspectors will issue notices to owners of vacant plots found in an unhygienic condition. The owners will have to clean the plots at their own expense within 15 days of receiving the notice.

If the owners fail to comply within the stipulated period, the Corporation will deploy its sanitation workers and machinery to remove the waste and clean the plots. The expenditure incurred on the work will be recovered from the respective owners as a penalty, the Corporation said.

The civic body appealed to vacant plot owners to clean and maintain their properties regularly and urged the public not to dump garbage in vacant plots or public places.

The Coimbatore Corporation has issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for construction companies and private building owners, mandating a series of preventive measures to curb mosquito breeding and prevent the spread of dengue across the city’s 100 wards.

In a statement, Commissioner Katta Ravi Teja said anti-mosquito operations are being carried out continuously across the city. As prevailing weather conditions are conducive to the breeding of Aedes mosquitoes, which transmit dengue, builders and property owners have been directed to strictly adhere to the prescribed guidelines.

The SOP mandates all water storage tanks and plastic drums at construction sites remain covered, while tanks and containers should be cleaned regularly with bleaching powder or lime before being refilled. Water stagnation in lift pits should be prevented, and where unavoidable, bleaching powder or used engine oil should be applied to prevent mosquito larvae from developing.

Construction sites should also be kept free of discarded plastic materials, paper cups, polythene bags, eggshells, coconut shells, paint cans, broken pots, plastic pipes, polystyrene, bottles and other waste that can collect rainwater. Equipment such as mortar pans and wheelbarrows should be cleaned daily and stored without allowing water to accumulate, while wastewater should not be allowed to stagnate around buildings. The civic body has also directed that temporary sheds at construction sites should not be used to store unnecessary materials, particularly tyres, which can become mosquito breeding grounds.

The Corporation has instructed construction firms to maintain hygienic conditions in temporary labour camps and ensure the proper disposal of food containers and other waste generated by workers. Builders have also been asked to extend full cooperation to the Corporation staff engaged in dengue prevention activities.

The Commissioner added that the SOP must be followed without exception and warned that building owners or managements found violating the prescribed norms would face legal action under the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939.

Ahead of the South West Monsoon setting in, the Coimbatore Corporation has begun a drive to remove encroachments in water ways and channels and desilt them across the 100 wards.

Corporation Commissioner Katta Ravi Teja on Thursday inspected the works that are aimed at preventing flooding of roads and underpasses.

The Corporation has five zones, and the canals and channels passing through the zones are being desilted using earth movers. As part of the drive, in Veerakeralam in West Zone, the channel that feeds water to Krishnampathy tank is being deslited using excavators, a release from the Corporation said.

Works have been completed in 17.70 km of water ways in South Zone and works in the remaining 11.25 km are under progress. In West Zone, desilting of 5.50 km of the canal is over and works are under progress in the remaining 15.60 km. In East Zone, works are completed in respect of 34.27 km of water ways and desilting is under way in the remaining 6.19 km. In the Central Zone, desilting is completed in 3 km of water ways and works are in progress in the remaining 14.30 km.

In the North Zone, works are over in 13.62 km and works are being expedited in the remaining 13.60 km. Once the works are over, the water carrying capacity of these channels is expected to improve considerably and flooding of roads and low lying residential areas will be prevented.