Senior citizens say the civic body is not taking proper care of the land
A piece of land donated to Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhiji is being used as a ground to dump the garbage. The land has become a bone of contention between senior citizens of Mogalrajpuram and the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) over its upkeep.
The senior citizens allege that the corporation has no respect for Mahatma Gandhiji, while the corporation officials claim that they have been asking the residents not to dump their garbage there. In the wrangle, the land where Gandhiji inspired people with his speech and addressed Congress workers during freedom struggle has been reduced to a junk yard.
In fact, the VMC is, apparently, making a mockery of its own caution board by putting up a dumper bin at the spot. The dumper bin is very close to the caution board which says: “The land belongs to Gandhiji, and is in possession of Municipal Corporation. So it should not be used for parking or dumping garbage. Violators would be punished.”
The senior citizens point out that the land admeasuring 276.77 sq. yards was donated to Gandhiji by freedom fighter Katragadda Madhusudhana Rao and his family members in 1933. Gandhiji convened a meeting with political leaders and volunteers near ‘Current Baavi' in Mogalrajpuram here during his visit to the district, they recall.
When contacted the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) M. Satyanarayana Raju says, “We have cleared all the construction debris from the site. The residents were requested not to throw their filth there but in vain.”
The corporation has positively responded to a suggestion from the residents to develop a park there. They were asked to contribute their share so that the park could be developed in Private Public Partnership (PPP) mode.
“We are waiting for their reply. The VMC will construct a compound wall if they do not respond in next 10 days,” he adds.
Keywords: dumping yard, lack of maintenance, VMC, junk yard
