Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Commissioner G. Lakshmisha said that steps are going to be taken to improve sanitation, solid waste management, sewerage treatment plant connectivity and development of wards with all amenities in the next one year. The GVMC will come up with a detailed action plan in coordination with people, officials, organisations to make things happen, he said.
Addressing the media here on Tuesday, Mr. Lakshmisha stressed upon the need to improve sanitation in the city and said that the civic body needs to ensure that there is adequate men, machine and materials.
“As per the initial assessment, we may have the required machines, as we have been procuring them from time to time, but we are definitely short of manpower, which we need to address. A lot of vacancies need to be filled up and we are in talks with the government. We may either recruit them or outsource them,” he said.
“As of now men are cleaning the manholes at some places. We already have some man-hole cleaning machines and would procure a few more to avoid using men doing the job,” he said.
He said that the GVMC will upgrade sewerage network and sewerage treatment plants (STPs). “As of now, we have only 16,000 households connected to the network,” he added. The current inflow of two STPs at Mudasarlova and Apughar is 38 MLD. The GVMC is working on sewerage network upgradation in two areas in two phases at Pendurthi and Gajuwaka. Once the upgradation is completed, the STPs treatment capacity will increase with another 108 MLD.
He said that works for the Waste-to-Energy recycling plant is nearing completion, which would be an asset for the city. Ward development plans and slum development plans are underway to ensure all amenities to the residents, he added.
Mr Lakshmisha said that he has been visiting various wards every morning. His main focus is to ensure visible cleanliness in the wards. He said that in many areas roads are being dug up and construction and demolition wastes are being dumped beside the roads. He also said that in several remote areas, solid wastes are directly being dumped into the drainage.
He admitted that the civic body was not able to enforce the ban on single-use plastic, as desired, due to COVID-19 situation and said that steps would be taken now to enforce strictly.
