HYDERABAD: A tourist’s photo of a scenic flyover can be ruined by a pile of garbage in the foreground. Recognising that cleanliness is key to sustaining tourism, the GHMC is turning sanitation workers into guardians of the city’s image. A new Rs 6.84 crore project will deploy a dedicated team of cleaners on round-the-clock duty along 24.8 km of Serilingampally’s most visited roads, keeping them spotless, day and night.
Serilingampally, now a hub of IT firms, modern infrastructure and rapid urban growth, has also been struggling with civic issues like poor sanitation, littering and inadequate public toilets. To address this, the GHMC has decided to hand over the maintenance of major tourist corridors to specialised agencies and invited bids, while also running awareness campaigns and constructing new public toilets.
Officials noted that commercial establishments and commuters often dump waste even after cleaning drives, leaving the stretches dirty until the next day. To counter this, the project will ensure round-the-clock maintenance with workers deployed in three shifts.
As per the new plan, one sweeping worker will cover every 300 metres of road in the first shift and every 500 metres in the second. During non-sweeping hours, one litter picker will be deployed for every km, supported by one supervisor for every 2 km. Daily cleaning will include roads, sidewalks, medians and lifting of construction debris, green waste and silt — even on holidays and festivals.
All waste will be transported to designated transfer stations using GPS-enabled vehicles monitored via GHMC’s online dashboard. The agency will also ensure all nearby buildings are linked to authorised waste collectors for door-to-door collection.
Litter must be cleared within 30 minutes of being reported, and the agency will be responsible for preventing wall posters, unauthorised banners and other defacement of public property.
To ensure accountability, GHMC will impose penalties for lapses: Rs 1,000 for garbage or debris on roads, dirty footpaths, open burning or poor toilet maintenance, and Rs 100 for failure to replace disposal bags in twin bins.
Stretches identified
COD Junction to ITC Kohenur (Durgam Cheruvu and Cable Bridge) – 5.8 km
Biodiversity Flyover – 5 km
Botanical Garden three-side flyover – 5 km
Google Building to Cyber Towers Circle – 4 km
Shilpa Flyover (IKEA side to Gachibowli, both sides) – 5 km