Anti-dengue drive: School in Krishnagiri closed for 20 days

Collector C Kathiravan, who was conducting an inspection, noticed the surroundings of the private elementary school at Uthangarai Taluk to be unclean. He was on a campaign to create awareness on dengue and reviewed the measures taken to curb the spread of the fever at Pannamthoppu in Uthangarai Taluk of Krishnagiri district. 

The private school, which has students studying up to Class 5, was devoid of proper sanitation. Water was stagnating in front of a stinking toilet block. Also the open premises in front of the school were found strewn with garbage, puddles of stagnating water and bushes grown all over, providing a perfect breeding spot for mosquitoes. 

A furious Collector ordered the school management to re-open the classes only after clearing the surroundings and issued orders for the closure of the school for the next 20 days. During the door to door inspections, the Collector also slapped a fine on public for not removing waste materials that had water stored in them. 

The Collector imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on Kannan (36), for letting water to be stagnating on tyres dumped in the terrace of his house. Another resident was asked to pay a fine of Rs 10,000 as larvae of dengue causing aedes aegypti mosquitoes were found in the water stagnating in his house.