Residents of around 12 colonies in Ward no. 45 allege that open dumping of garbage by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) in the mini sewage farm that is located in the midst of the colony beside the 80-foot road at Thatichetlapalem, is raising unbearable stink and causing health problems.
They demanded that the corporation immediately stop the garbage shifting procedure from Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP) vehicles to heavy vehicles in the sewage farm or shift it to a far-off place.
According to the locals, around 30 to 40 CLAP vehicles from various wards arrive at the mini sewage farm every morning and dump the wastes on the open ground. The staff then segregates the wastes and then the garbage is loaded on heavy vehicles for transport to the dumping yard at Kapuluppada. The remains of waste is generating foul smell throughout the day, apart from increasing the mosquito menace, the residents allege.
“Heaps of wastes are kept lying on the ground until the garbage is segregated and shifted. Bad odour keeps emanating even while we are having food in our houses. There is a severe mosquito menace in our area. In our street, three children are suffering from dengue, probably due to this reason,” alleged Eswara Rao, a resident of Ward 45.
Residents from Ganesh Nagar Colony, Ramachandra Nagar Colony, Taraka Rama Nagar, Prasanthi Nagar, Chittibabu Colony, ASR Nagar, Vasudeva Nagar and a few other areas have been facing the issue for a long time. The locals said that they have complained about the problem to the District Collector, GVMC Commissioner and the Zonal Commissioner, but still the open dumping continues.
“During January this year, we have staged a protest and took up the issue to the notice of former MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju and YSRCP North Constituency Convenor K.K. Raju. After the leaders demanded that the civic body stop such dumping in residential areas, the GVMC has stopped it. Again after some days, the civic body authorities have resumed the activity,” they allege.
On Thursday, locals from the ward have staged a protest before the mini sewage farm and demanded that the GVMC immediately stop dumping in the farm.
“ Such collection points should not be present in a midst of a locality, troubling the locals. We demanded that the GVMC shift it,” said Corporator of the Ward 45 (YSRCP) Hanoku. He also said that the GVMC authorities have sought time for a week and have agreed to shift the collection point by August 1.
Zone V Zonal Commissioner M. Naidu said that they were also mulling to come out with various scientific methods including the Indore-based ramp model to transfer garbage from small vehicles to heavy vehicles and ensure that people were not put to inconvenience.
Published - July 22, 2022 07:24 pm IST
