Thane health dept directs closure of 105 abortion centres

, Oct 8: Over 100 abortion centres in Thane have been asked to close down by

authorities after they were found to be violating regulations, officials said today.

Along with this, 319 sonography centres (private as well as government ones) have also ceased functioning after irregularities were found there.

At a meeting of the vigilance committee presided over by Thane district Collector P Velarasu here today, several issues regarding the functioning of abortion and sonography centres were discussed in detail.

Velarasu asked the health department officials to be strict while implementing regulations and that there should be no compromise on health-related measures.

During the meeting, the health officials presented a report before the collector, according to which a total of 553 abortions centres (private as well as government) were subject to verification in July 2012 following specific instructions from the state chief secretary.

About 25 teams were formed which included officials from the health, revenue and police departments who carried out inspections and directed as many as 105 abortion centres to close down, the report said.

It was also informed that the district had a total of 924 sonography centres, of which 206 centres were in Thane corporation limits, followed by 181 in Navi Mumbai.

The report also said that of the 924 sonography centers, 605 centres were in operation while 319 had been shut down following irregularities in their functioning.

There were 134 sonography centres operating in Thane and 100 in Navi Mumbai, the report added. The rest of the sonography centres were functioning in the Kalyan-Dombivili, Ulhasnagar, Bhiwandi, Mira Bhayander and Vasai-Virar corporation limits, the report said.

Incidentally, some districts of Maharashtra have seen an alarming increase in female foeticide of late. As per the 2011 census, the child sex ratio in the state has dropped to 883 girls against 1,000 boys.

PTI