Visakhapatnam: GVMC rolls up sleeves for Giri Pradakshina

Over 1,000 sanitation workers to man city streets during the festival

Preparations are on in full swing for Giri Pradakshina — a major festival during which lakhs of devotees circumambulate the Simhachalam hill before going up to the temple and offering prayers to Lord Narasimha Swamy — which is scheduled to be held on July 12.

The civic body is planning to deploy over a thousand sanitation workers to maintain cleanliness along the 35-km route around the hill. As the event was cancelled in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities are expecting lakhs of devotees to take part in the festival this year.

The civic body is focusing on sprucing up roads, repairing defunct street lights, and arranging water kiosks and toilets in areas such as Hanumanthawaka, Appughar, MVP Colony, HB Colony, Seetammadhara, Madhavadhara, NAD Junction, Gopalapatnam and Simhachalam for the convenience of devotees.

The GVMC is going to call for tenders to engage sanitation workers through a private agency for the event. Officials opine that at least a 1,000 workers are needed to ensure cleanliness along the route. This would ensure uninterrupted sanitation works in the city, GVMC Commissioner G. Lakshmisha said.

“We are inspecting the entire route. We are taking up repair works on pothole-ridden stretches and are repairing defunct streetlights as the circumambulation goes on all through the night. Toilets and drinking water kiosks will be put up all along the route,” Mr. Lakshmisha said.

Plastic pollution

Keeping in view the recently implemented plastic ban, efforts are being made by the civic body to ensure that single-use plastic items are not used by the devotees.

According to Mr. Lakshmisha, only paper cups will be provided at the water kiosks. The sale, usage and distribution of water and butter milk in plastic sachets would be banned. The civic body has issued clear instructions to this regard to NGOs and groups who are going to conduct service activities during the festival, Mr. Lakshmisha said. The civic chief said that he has also urged the organisations to ensure that banners put up by them during the festival are not made of plastic.

“We will also ensure that plastic bottles are not used anywhere. Dustbins will be arranged along the routes, while at some places bottle crushing machines will also be placed,” he said.

Tonnes of plastic wastes used to litter the city streets after the end of the Giri Pradakshina festival as NGOs used to distribute water and buttermilk in plastic sachets to devotees all along the route.

To support the ongoing ban on plastic, members of the AP Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) have also decided to use steel or paper glasses to distribute water to the devotees.