Thiruvananthapuram, May 15 (IANS): A massive state-wide clean-up operation has been launched in Kerala ahead of the arrival of the southwest monsoon covering all the 19,489 wards in the state.

The cleaning operation is being spearheaded by the Local Self Government Institutions (LSGIs) to prevent incidences of epidemics, especially vector-borne diseases.

The Local Self Government Department (LSGD) has roped in various other departments besides ensuring the participation of the local community in carrying out the cleaning drive.

As part of this process, the LSGIs conducted coordination meetings in the presence of various officials, followed by organising district-level training programmes.

Of the 19,489 wards in the LSGIs, pre-monsoon sanitation committees were either formed or reconstituted in 15,987 of them.

As part of the ward-level action plans, a vast stretch of over 2,224 km of water bodies and canals has already been cleaned up, while another 2,443 km will be cleaned up before the onset of monsoon.

The sanitation committees have identified 327 hotspots apart from those marked as hotspots by the Health Department in the last two years.

In the first phase, the LSGIs have completed pre-monsoon cleaning drives in all the culverts in their areas, besides conducting awareness classes, chlorination drives, and destruction of the mosquito breeding spots.

Clearing of accumulated waste from canals, public toilets, and public spaces is going on with the coordination of the local people and others.

Also, Asha workers are going from door-to-door to create awareness about the importance of sanitation activities and preventive measures.