HYDERABAD: Admitting that sanitation in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits left much to be desired and immediate remedial measures were needed, Mayor Gadwal Vijayalaxmi on Tuesday told the GHMC Council meeting: “It is a shame on me to see my city like this,”the Mayor said steps would be taken at the earliest to improve sanitation in the city by involving all the corporators at the ground level.
Cutting across party lines, Corporators complained about poor sanitation prevailing in the city and blamed GHMC authorities for the pathetic condition, to which Vijayalaxmi agreed saying that there was a need to improve matters.
Many Corporators said that garbage was not being lifted at regular intervals, Swachh Auto Tippers (SAT) were not performing the jobs assigned to them by going door-to-door to collect garbage. They said that the decision to remove all garbage bins from the city has compounded the problems as people are throwing garbage anywhere on the roads. Certain SATs, instead of being involved in the jobs assigned to them, were being diverted for other works; some autos were being plied in the districts for commercial gains, the Corporators said.
Need for solution
TRS, BJP, AIMIM and Congress Corporators demanded better sanitation in their respective wards. They wanted the Mayor to increase the number of sweeping units for efficient sweeping of roads and their collection.
Responding to the problems faced by the Corporators in their respective wards, the Mayor said that the sanitation was no better in her Banjara Hills ward. ‘’You have removed the garbage bins from the city, where is the garbage going? We need a solution,” the Mayor told officials.
Vijayalaxmi said there was an urgent need to come up with a solution. She said that an action plan will be prepared and discussed in the next Standing Committee meeting. She asked GHMC Commissioner DS Lokesh Kumar to work in coordination with the Corporators and come up with a foolproof plan to scale up the city’s cleanliness. She said that before this action plan is implemented, a pilot project will be taken up to study the pros and cons before extending it to the city.
Yakutpura MLA Ahmed Pasha Quadri said the sanitation was bad in the city and demanded action against the officials. Former Deputy Mayor Baba Fasiuddin also took objections to the prevailing sanitation conditions in the city.
Former Mayor Majid Hussain said there was a need to increase the sweeping units for proper sanitation in the city. GHMC Additional Commissioner (Health and Sanitation), Santosh Badvath said they will bring it to the notice of the government.
Protests disrupt meet
Earlier before the meeting started, some members of BJP and Congress protested at the GHMC Head Office with placards. They also disrupted the meeting several times.The BJP members also objected to a vote of thanks by a Corporator who was thanking Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar for the Kumram Bheem Adivasi Bhavan and Sevalal Banjara Bhavan in Banjara Hills. The BJP Corporators said that the council meeting was being turned into a “bhajan programme”.
Congress members too interrupted the meeting multiple times demanding that they be allowed to speak out of turn and rushed to the Mayor’s podium. A BJP member, instead of airing the civic apathy in his ward, referred to Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar, leading to chaos inside the council hall. AIMIM members strongly objected to his statement.
CIVIC ISSUES DISCUSSED AT MEET
Issues related to town planning, quality of food served in hotels and restaurants, nalas, roads, slapping of penalties on to-let and name boards by EVDM and mosquito control measures were discussed at the meeting.