The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) owns more than 150 vehicles including trucks that are used to lift and transport garbage. The corporation spends nearly Rs. 1 crore on fuel annually and close to Rs. 30 lakh on repair of vehicles every month.
VMC Commissioner G. Veerapandian, apparently startled by this, has decided to conduct a third-party audit by a committee headed by a trainee Collector on vehicles owned by the corporation. Officials have also been instructed to update details of vehicles used for garbage transportation and other purposes on the corporation’s website.
Of the 150 vehicles, more than 30 trucks are under repair, the expenditure for which has gone up considerably. Further, drivers, who are in charge of such vehicles, are jobless and spend most of their time at the vehicles depot at Purnanandampet. More importantly, there are complaints that vehicles, especially garbage trucks, are used for other purposes.
“The third party audit was ordered in a bid to regulate expenditure and monitor the operations of the vehicle depot. This will help the authorities focus on specific areas and identify ways to avoid to unwanted expenditure,” said Mr. Veerapandian. He also inspected the vehicle depot on Thursday. The audit will lay emphasis on the number of vehicles used by the corporation and the expenditure on fuel and repairs, he added. The VMC chief also checked the registers pertaining to fuel indent for vehicles and the fuel stations from which they obtained fuel.
Later, inspecting B.R.P Road, Ganapathirao Road and K.T. Road, he directed officials to ensure that garbage was dumped in dumper bins and not strewn on the roadside.
He instructed them to complete the underground drainage pipeline works on K.T. Road at the earliest to avoid any obstruction to traffic in the locality.
Noticing overflowing drainage on the road from main culvert, he instructed officials to clear silt accumulated under the culvert.
