As the sanitation workers indefinite strike enters the third day, garbage has been piling up on the city roads.
Adding to the woes, sanitation condition in many wards has gone worse as the wastes left over by devotees along the ‘Giri Pradakshina’ route are not cleared even by Wednesday afternoon. The roads are seen with paper cups, tea cups, hundreds of plates, water bottles and flowers. In some areas, food wastes thrown away by devotees are emanating bad smell forcing the shopkeepers and residents to clean up surroundings on their own.
Municipal workers organising Vanta Varapu near KRM Colony cemetery in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: V. RAJU
With the situation going out of control, several Sanitary Inspectors and even Zonal Commissioners of the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) have picked up the brooms and started to clear debris in some wards.
Though the GVMC officials have made alternative arrangements by deputing some temporary sanitation workers to help the permanent workers, they did not meet the requirement. As the drivers of GVMC sanitation vehicles and Clean Andhra Pradesh (CLAP) vehicles too are extending their support to the stir, garbage bins in almost all the colonies are full.
Garbage collection vehicles parked at the dumping yard, in the Old Town area of Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: V. RAJU
With no door-to-door garbage collection from the past couple of days, many households are dumping wastes on road sides and in drainages. In some areas, dumper bins and wastes thrown in their surroundings have occupied almost three-fourth of the roads.
Similar situation prevailing in Arilova, Visalakshi Nagar, Beach Road, H.B Colony, MVP Colony, Lawsons Bay Colony, Waltair, Akkayyapalem, One Town, Gajuwaka, Kancharapalem, Murali Nagar, Madhavadhara, Gopalapatnam, Scindhia, Malkapuram and other areas.
Irked residents have started to complain about the poor sanitation in their locality in social media pages and groups involving Sachivalayam members by posting pictures. Naveen Naidu, a resident of Arilova, has complained on lack of door-to-door garbage collection since Monday and questioned where to dump it. Several households informed the Sachivalayam employees not to ask for garbage collection charges anymore.
Close to 5,200 contract workers (Public Health) have been taking part in the protest. This apart, around 800 CLAP vehicle drivers and 200 garbage vehicle drivers have also extended their support. On Wednesday morning, sanitation workers staged protest before the Garbage Transfer Stations in all the zones. They stopped vehicles and urged drivers to support them. Expressing displeasure against the government for not responding to their problems despite 48 hours of strike, workers staged ‘Vanta Varpu’ before the offices. In some areas, police personnel have detained workers and CITU Union leaders for allegedly obstructing garbage collection vehicles.
Chief Medical Officer K.S.L.G. Sastry said that disruption of garbage collection vehicles had created sanitation problem in the city. He said that GVMC was able to deploy workers and vehicles to clear up debris, but agitators stopped them at many wards. He said that the protesters are urging vehicle drivers to support the strike and in some areas they are taking away keys of the vehicles.
“With the help of police security, we were able to mobilise a few garbage collection vehicles. By Wednesday evening, over 80 % of ‘Giri Pradakshana’ route was cleared and by Thursday afternoon, we would ensure rest of the route is cleaned,” Mr. Sastry said.
Meanwhile, GVMC Commisisoner G. Lakshmisha held a meeting with the union leaders and sought their support. He urged corporators to motivate the workers in their respective wards to take up the work as the health of people is at stake.
