Chennai, Oct 25 (IANS) In a novel initiative, about 20,000 students of Chennai Corporation-run schools have turned health ambassadors and appealed to the people to maintain cleanliness in their houses and streets, said a statement on Friday.
The campaign is for preventing the spread of monsoon related diseases.
The Chennai Corporation has also released a video film featuring student ambassadors as part of its awareness campaign “Clean Chennai, Healthy Chennai.”
The student health ambassadors were selected from various educational institutions across the city last month.
Tamil Nadu Minister for Municipal Administration S.P.Velumani, had met the student ambassadors, congratulated them and gave them their identity cards.
He requested the student ambassadors to create awareness about cleanliness, sanitation and about dengue and other contagious diseases in their neighbourhood.
An audio-visual presentation made by Chennai Corporation, featuring the student ambassadors was released.
The campaign began with a “Clean homes, clean streets” message, and stressed the need for self-motivation to keep homes and the neighbourhood clean, and requested the cooperation of the audience to combat the dengue mosquitoes.
The Chennai Corporation also plans to run awareness campaigns via auto-rickshaws in fifteen zones during weekends on diseases that occur during the monsoon and the preventive steps that need to be taken.
Rallies are also planned in all the 15 zones, with the participation of 20,000 city school students, to spread awareness about prevention of mosquito-borne diseases during monsoon, stopping open defecation, stopping usage of plastic, preventing stagnation of sewage or clean water and rainwater harvesting.
On behalf of Chennai Corporation, it was announced that the students will take out rallies near their schools and distribute pamphlets and flyers with these messages.
–IANS
vj/adr/bg