Corporators from the Opposition parties, including the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Jana Sena Party (JSP), CPI and the CPI(M). have decided to raise their objection again over the issue of garbage user charge collection in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC)‘s council meet, which is going to be held on Thursday. They also likely to demand that the Council completely withdraw its decision to collect the charges from people.
On Monday, corporators from the TDP had conducted a meet under the leadership of TDP Visakhapatnam Parliamentary Constituency president Palla Srinivasa Rao, where they have taken a decision to highlight the issue in the council meet. In one of the agenda points, the GVMC has proposed to reduce the charges from ₹120 to ₹60 for the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. The TDP corporators have planned to seek complete waiver of charges for all sections of people.
Meanwhile, CPI(M) corporator (Ward 78) B. Ganga Rao said that the GVMC is facing stiff resistance from the people while collecting user charges. “Though the officials claim that all people are cooperating with the civic body by paying the user charges, the fact is that the GVMC is able to collect only 18% of its target in the past six months,” Mr. Ganga Rao said, adding that the CPI(M) would also question about the issue among others.
Members of Visakhapatnam Apartment Residents Welfare Association (VARWA), Greater Visakha Resident Colony Associations’ Federation (Nivas) meeting was held under the chairmanship of VARWA president N. Prakasa Rao, here on Wednesday. The members alleged that the GVMC has been pressurising people in the name of user charges. VARWA and Nivas have been agitating against to user charges for a long time. They demanded that the GVMC council scrap the decision to collect user charges.
Apart from user charges issue, agenda also proposes to provide two acres of land to the YSR Congress Party for building its office at Yendada and this might also face resistance from the Opposition parties.
Opposition corporators are also planning to question about the status of ₹1.5 crore ward development fund, which was promised by the GVMC.
