Residents demand cleanliness of Nullah Leh

RAWALPINDI / ISLAMABAD - The residents living along Nullah Leh on Friday demanded cleanliness of the nullah as it is full of filth, silt and garbage.



They said Nullah Lai is overflowing due to the negligence of the concerned authorities as garbage and filth gather there and no proper arrangements have been made to clear silt and solid waste from it. The residents of low lying areas particularly Waris Khan, Glass Factory, Mokh Singh State, Dhoke Khaba, Umer Road, Nadeem Colony, Dhoke Elahi, City Sadar Road, Dhoke Charg Deen, Pirwadhi, New Katrian and Dhoke Naju demanded city district government to take solid for redressing grievances of people.
Gawalmandi area should especially be focused during the cleanliness drive, said a resident Malik Naseer, adding, due to surrounding populus locality, a large quantity of garbage and filth is thrown in the nullah and no one is paying heed towards this issue. The PML-N leader and Incharge Monitoring Cell of Development Works, Sardar Nasim stated that he would discuss the situation with the Punjab Government and convince it to allocate funds for cleaning and dredging of the Nullah.
Campaign to prevent diarrhea among children concludes: In a bid to address health problems of disadvantaged mothers and children, lady health workers are visiting door to door in 12 union councils and 14 slums of the federal capital to provide basic healthcare facilities to them in a week-long 'Mother and Child' campaign to be concluded on Saturday.
According to details, the campaign is focusing on prevention of diarrhea among the children, distribution of ORS and zinc syrup, immunization of children against communicable diseases under two years, tetnus toxoid vaccination for pregnant women, providing counseling services to pregnant women, provision of iron and folic acid tablets to the mother and children for overcoming anemia and mal nutrition among children, providing family planning services, promotion of personal hygiene, washing hands, prevention of pneumonia.
District Health Department, Islamabad, Capital Territory Administration (ICT), in co-ordination with UNICEF and Capital Development Authority (CDA) is observing the Mother and Child Week in the Federal Capital from April 2 to April 7, with a view to address the health problems of disadvantaged mothers and children by raising the awareness and strengthening the health system to become more responsive. The lady health workers are visiting door to door in the 12 union councils and 14 slums of Islamabad and would provide these basic health care facilities to the disadvantaged families.
They are registering pregnant women for all the requisite health care services. Health education of disadvantaged families is also an important part of week long activities. The lady health workers are observing this week with full dedication and devotion and addressing the health problems of disadvantaged mothers and children by visiting and spending their time with disadvantaged mothers in slum settlements and remote rural areas of 12 union councils of Islamabad.
PAL chief condoles Sarfraz Mirza’s death: Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) Chairman Abdul Hameed on Friday expressed grief over the sad demise of the prominent intellectual and researcher Prof Dr Sarfraz Hussain Mirza.
In a condolence message, the Chairman said the death of Prof. Dr Sarfraz Hussain Mirza has created a gap in the literary circle which cannot be filled.
Abdul Hameed said Dr Sarfraz Hussain was the author of many books regarding History of Pakistan. These books are a precious asset for the new generation and will remain the part of history. Chairman PAL, Abdul Hameed prayed for the salvation of soul of the Prof Dr Sarfraz Hussain Mirza and patience for his siblings.
Unhygienic office desks spread sickness: Study Employees who prefer to eat their lunch at their desks instead of taking a lunch hour out of the office are apparently putting their health, as well as the health of their colleagues, at risk.
A new study by office supplies firm Viking has revealed that hygiene levels are shockingly poor in hundreds of offices across the UK; with germs reportedly found in nearly two-thirds of computer keyboards, some of which also had mould growing under them, Live Science reported.
The reason for the growth of germs and bacteria in the office desks is that almost two-thirds of the office employees in the country eat at their work station but do not clean up afterwards; thereby implying that there are chances of some sickness spreading throughout the office.
After having comprehensively analyzed the swabs sent in by hundreds of office workers from across the UK, Viking arrived at the conclusion that computer staff, accountants, and lawyers were seemingly the most unhygienic office workers in the country; with social workers being the most likely ones to have moldy food on their desks.
Terming the `unhygienic desks' revelation as ‘very worrying’
Dr.Lisa Ackerley a chartered environmental health practitioner - said since employees working in open-plan offices generally start coming down with illnesses this time of year, "keeping equipment such as keyboards, phones and desks as germ-free as possible is even more important during the cold and flu season