The Hindu Business Line : Welcome moves

Chennai Corporation has at last woken up from deep slumber to promote hygiene among Chennaites by introducing a penalty system for offenders who deface the streets by dumping waste, spitting, urinating or defecating.

This is a laudable objective, provided the infrastructure is provided so that people are induced not to commit the offence.

What the Corporation needs to ensure is that the sanitary and conservancy inspectors who are given powers to collect penalties do not misuse the authority and harass the public on flimsy grounds. Their role should be mainly to educate and not to penalise, per se.

The State Government can channel funds earmarked for useless freebies such as TV sets and gas stoves to providing public conveniences — of course, even at the cost of vote-banks for political parties. Similarly, the annual allocation for MPs and MLAs could be made use of for civic amenities, at least for a couple of years from now.

This would prove a futile exercise if the Corporation and philanthropic organisations do not come forward in right earnest to open public toilets with water facilities, so that they can be kept clean. Every main road, at least to begin with, should have a set of toilets. Already, the drainage system is disgusting and the city stinks. Wherever you go, there is waterlogging and overflowing sewers.

The city has a bad reputation, with overseas visitors in particular, for its lack pf cleanliness and hygiene. This impression must change, and quickly.

T. S. Nagarajan Chennai

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