VIJAYAWADA: As part of ‘Swachhata hi Seva’ fortnight observation, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) here on Tuesday organised a special drive in 59 divisions of the city and shifted several tonnes of construction and demolition waste piled up on roads. The municipal officials collected as much as 70 tonnes of waste from various divisions and penalised the violators.
During the drive, the sanitary inspectors and health officers emphasised on the need of following the Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016. Sanitation staff used bobcat machine to remove the construction waste dumped on internal roads and shifted it to Excel Plant, Ajith Singh Nagar. The officials also talked to the residents of the significance of Swachh Andhra and Swachh Bharat initiatives.
“Heaps of construction and demolition waste was lying on the road near my house, blocking the drain flow. The issue was taken to the notice of the sanitary inspector, following which the staff swung into action and cleared it,” said K Simhachalam, a resident of Chitti Nagar.
Though civic body officials are shifting the waste for now, measures must be taken to solve the long-pending problem of construction and demolition waste lying around in the city, he added.“Construction is taking place in the city and it has become a herculean task for the VMC to get hold of the culprits as they dump the debris on the roadsides at night. The contractors have been told not to do so and they will be penalised if they fail to follow the instructions,” said VMC health officer, Jaya Surya, division number 35.
VMC will take initiatives to achieve the desired results to make the city fare better in the next edition of Swachh Survekshan-2019 survey, he added.