Thousands of officials of government departments, members of various NGOs and municipal workers descended on the areas alongside the Krishna and the three canals passing through the city in the early hours of Thursday pledging to keep the water bodies free from pollution.
As part of the two-day ‘Nenu Saitham Krishnannamma Suddhi Sevalo’ programme initiated by District Collector A. Md. Imtiaz, scores of officials and volunteers conducted awareness walks and door-to-door campaigns in the areas adjacent to Krishna river in Yanamalakuduru and Ramalingeswara Nagar, while workers equipped with trolleys, trucks and earthmovers got down to the work of removing garbage from the canals and the river. Officials claimed that over 15,000 persons took part in the campaign and 300 tonnes of garbage had been removed from 15 locations in the city.
At Yanamalakuduru and Ramalingeswara Nagar, Mr. Imtiaz, VMC chief M. Rama Rao, Commissioner of Police Dwaraka Tirumala Rao and other department heads gathered and pledged that they would strive to ensure that water bodies were free from pollution.
Removal of garbage in the unauthorised dumping yard in the Krishna river bed at Yanamalakuduru was done on a large scale with trucks and earthmovers as part of the cleanliness drive.
Several truck-loads of garbage was removed and transported to the dumping yard on the city outskirts. Also, earthmovers were engaged to remove garbage from the Bandar, Ryves and Eluru canals, where tonnes of plastic waste and other material were dumped for months. However, at most of the areas, only the staff of the municipal sanitation wing got into the canals to clean them, while they were assisted by volunteers.
Officials said that 22 large trucks, 65 tractors, 18 earthmovers had been pressed into service at all the areas.
Mr. Imtiaz appreciated all the participants and called upon the people of the district in other areas to take up a similar campaigns and keep the water bodies clean. The campaign will continue on Friday.
