Vijayawada Municipal Corporation to impose Rs 500 fine for urinating in Public places
VIJAYAWADA:Think twice before urinating in public places under the jurisdiction of Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) as the civic body officials have decided to impose a fine of Rs 500 on those caught in the act by sanitary inspectors. The decision was taken by Municipal Corporation commissioner J Nivas as part of promoting Swachh Vijayawada initiative and also to strive for Open Defecation Free (ODF).However, the situation at the ground level is quite different. The civic body is way behind in providing sufficient number of public toilets at major junctions of the city.
“For a city like Vijayawada which is part of the State capital Amaravati, constructing public toilets should have been the first priority of the officials. But that is not the case. Inadequate public toilets and poor maintenance of existing toilets force denizens to urinate openly near prime locations like RTC bus stand, railway station and government hospitals,’’ said K Vidyadhar Rao, a private employee.
According to data provided by VMC, the city maintains 78 public toilets with a total capacity of 850 units across the city with the support of Sulabh International. Of the total, a majority of the public toilets are located near slum areas, commercial areas, markets, railway station and bus stand. Besides them, VMC had also installed 19 Namma toilets in several locations across the city as part of Swachh Bharat Mission.
When contacted, Municipal Corporation commissioner J Nivas said that the civic body has come up with proposals to construct public toilets in 150 locations across the city to control open defecation. He informed that VMC has tied up with a private agency to develop modern toilets in 14 corporation schools and the works will commence shortly. Signboards will be installed at the regular open defecation areas identified by the officials and instructions have been given to paint walls with pleasant murals, he added.