HEALTH

World Leprosy Day
Screening of migrants from endemic states mooted
Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 30
With the continuous flow of fresh leprosy patients into the city, the Chandigarh Leprosy Society has recommended the launching of a programme with the active involvement of the police, panchayats and local bodies to start the screening of the migrant population from the endemic states, when they enter the city.

Even as the leprosy control programme in the city will be wound up by March, the continuous flow of migrant population from endemic areas like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa and West Bengal continues to add on to the existing 350 active cases, under treatment.

An action plan was submitted by the society to the Director, Health Services, a week back, requesting that it was essential to continue the services of the mobile leprosy treatment unit so that the screening of the migrant population entering the city daily could be done for at least four days a week. It was suggested that since the population of migrant labourers in the city had touched three lakh, it was essential to focus on this target population.

“As long as the situation in the endemic states is not brought under control, the problem will continue to plague the city, where almost 500 migrants enter the city daily, in search of livelihood,” says Dr Uma Vasudev, Medical Officer, District Leprosy Society. She disclosed that Bapu Dham Colony, with a population of 80,000, and Mauli Jagran, with 65,000 residents, were the more vulnerable as a majority of them hailed from the high endemic areas.

“Though the prevalence rate of leprosy in the city has come down, fresh cases are being added regularly, which is a cause of concern for us,” feels Dr Vasudev. She adds that all those patients who cannot be traced by mobile teams are either placed in the category of dropouts or defaulters, but this does not mean that they have been cured fully.

The problem in regular treatment of these patients is encountered as many of them take shelter on the pavements, footpaths and verandahs of shopping complexes, having no permanent address. The fact that the migrant population keeps shuttling between their home in their native place and the city here, makes their compliance and treatment erratic.

During the leprosy elimination campaign-I undertaken by the society in Mauli Jagran in October last, 16 new cases had been detected after more than 1,000 patients were screened. The next leprosy elimination campaign would be launched on February, 7 in Bapu Dham Colony.

A total of 60 teams, comprising of school teachers, anganwari workers, social workers and schoolchildren will be constituted so that an extensive door-to-door search can be undertaken in Bapu Dham Colony. As part of the training component, school children from slum colonies and the adult population under the Adult Education programme will be made aware of leprosy and its treatment.

Heart check-up camp
Our Correspondent

Panchkula, January 30
A free heart check-up camp would be held at Patiala Mandir at Mata Mansa Devi Complex on February 27 and 28. Patients can register on February 1, 8, 15 and 22 at the mandir between 10 am to 5 pm. A pre check-up of the patient will also be done at the time of registration.

The camp is being organised by Mahamai Mansa Devi Charitable Bhandara Committee, in association with Escort Heart Institute and Research Center, New Delhi. For more information the patients can contact (0172) 2556363 or 2555458.

SPORTS

Victorious volleyball team return home
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, January 30
The Chandigarh junior volleyball team which won the Junior National Volleyball title on January 28 at Kolkata reached here this morning.

The team was accorded a warm welcome at the Chandigarh railway station by Chandigarh Volleyball Association officials led by Mr D.S.Bedi, vice-president and Mr Vijay Pal Singh, general secretary, of the association.

It was a dream come true for the city volleyball players, said their coach Mohan Nagreta, who polished the players during the past more than three years.

He said in the final match played at the Vidyawati stadium, Hooghly, Chandigarh beat last year's runners-up team Karnataka 3-2. After losing in first two sets and trailing 0-2, they bounced back to win the next three games and finally won 3-2.

Mr Vijay Pal Singh, also vice-president of the Volleyball Federation of India, described the victory as a great step in improvement in volleyball in the city.

He said the efforts put in by coach Mohan Nagreta in moulding the players through the year proved fruitful. He said the support given by Mr D.S.Bedi, Director-Principal of the Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, where the boys took training, was another factor which paved the way for Chandigarh's superb win in the competition. Mr Vijay Pal said they were proud to say that the Chandigarh team drubbed past other heavy weight players such as Karnataka, Punjab and Tamil Nadu before winning the title.

The team members were Raju Chauhan (Captain), Balwinder, Gurmit Singh, Lalit Kumar, Rajinder Singh, Suresh Kumar, Sukhpreet Singh, Vinod Negi, Mohit, Tejbir, Sandeep Yadav and Sahil.

Meanwhile, three city players, Balwinder Singh, Gurmit Singh and Lalit Kumar, have been selected for the National Junior Camp by the Volleyball Federation of India, on the basis of their performance in the 30th Junior National Volleyball meet.

CLTA move to give lawn tennis boost
Arvind Katyal

Chandigarh, January 30
In a unique and visionary step to improve lawn tennis in the region, the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA) today signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Army to have a joint training programme.

The move was initiated a few months back by the Chairman, CLTA, Mr Rajan Kashyap, and Lieut-General S.S. Mehta, PVSM, AVSM**, VSM, GOC-in-C, Western Command. A simple function was held today in the Sports Complex, Chandimandir Cantt, where Lieut-General Mehta inaugurated the two synthetic (DecoTurf) courts. A large number of senior Army officers and civil dignitaries, including tennis players, were present on the occasion. The MoU was also signed by Major-General O.P. Nandrajog on behalf of Western Command and Mr Kashyap.

Ten of the most talented boys in a 9-11 year age group were selected from hundreds of children from across the country. These boys would be trained and given free food and accommodation by the CLTA. Already the CLTA had a junior development programme for more than 400 boys and girls at its campus in Sector 10.

Later Mr Kashyap said the new residential wing in the Sector 10 stadium would be thrown open during the ITF Tennis meet beginning February 7. He said the training of the Army boys would commence from March 15 along with CLTA rural boys enrolled under CHART (Chandigarh Academy for Rural Tennis), who are at present five in number.

Mr Kashyap said the next course of selection of the CLTA boys would be done in another couple of months.

Out of 10 boys selected by the Army, five were present today. Rest would join when the course commenced in March. The selected boys are Ajit Singh, Pankaj Kumar, Parteek Shinde, Paramvir Toor, Indermit Singh, Stazin, Deepak, Naveen, Davinder and Rahul.

ADMINISTRATION

Water supply lines in Raj Bhavan to be replaced
Tribune News Service

The decision to replace the water supply lines was taken today. Now the water supply lines will run along the periphery of the Raj Bhavan. The Chandigarh Administration maintains the Raj Bhavans of Haryana and Punjab.