VIJAYAWADA: Continuing its efforts to make the city garbage-free, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is serving notices on bulk waste producers like hotels, restaurants and apartments to make arrangements for setting up onsite composting units in their premises to produce organic fertilisers rather than handing it over to sanitation staff.
This move by the civic body has irked the hoteliers and residents in the city. Recently, Vijayawada Hoteliers Association president Ilapuram Raja along with members has submitted a representation to Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana stating that they cannot maintain the onsite composting units on their own citing health issues and financial burden.
"How can the civic officials serve notices on the hoteliers and residents to establish onsite composting units in their premises,’’ questioned CPM State leader Ch Babu Rao. He threatened to stage agitations in the city involving the residents if the civic body failed to rollback the decision and withdraw notices.
According to VMC officials, the city has about 100 hotels and restaurants. They produce huge quantity of degradable and non-degradable waste making the job difficult for solid waste managers and sanitary workers. The waste includes disposable plastic water bottles, carry bags, banana leaves, plastic cups, ice cream cups and others. The hoteliers also dump food waste, leftovers and vegetable waste in the dumper bins provided by the Corporation.
Speaking to TNIE on Saturday, VMC chief officer for medical and health K Arjuna Rao said the decision to serve notices on hoteliers and apartments was not taken overnight. For the last one year, Municipal Commissioner J Nivas has been holding talks with hoteliers and other bulk waste producers in the city to establish onsite composting units in their premises to produce organic fertilisers, he said.
Asked whether the VMC will provide any assistance to bulk waste composters, Arjuna Rao said the civic body had organised a five-day expo at Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation Stadium in the first week of November and enlighten the residents about producing organic fertilisers out of their household garbage. At present, the VMC had served notices on a few hotels in the city and it will issue notices to others in a phased manner, he added.