VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is all set to arrange garbage transfer stations at five locations in the city. This comes as a relief for the residents of Ajit Singh Nagar as the total waste generated in the city is dumped in the transfer station located here, thereby causing much inconvenience and health issues.
VMC chief medical officer for health (CMOH) Geeta Bai told TNIE that the city with 64 divisions generated close 550 MT of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day. Heaps of garbage had been accumulating at the station for a few months as VMC authorities had stopped shifting waste to Jindal dumping yard in Guntur citing various reasons.
Later, transfer of piled up garbage from the garbage station to Jindal plant yard resumed in February. However, the plant in Guntur refused to allow the disposal of a portion of the garbage which was mixed with the soil, the CMOH added.
While the waste generated on a daily basis was being transferred to the Jindal plant, the rejected portion remained in the Ajit Singh Nagar transfer station. The accumulated waste began to emanate foul smell and became a mosquito breeding spot
“We are exploring all possibilities to relocate the garbage transfer station from Ajit Singh Nagar. As part of it, an acre was taken on lease from a farmer in Jakkampudi. A huge pit was dug for dumping the waste into it. But the locals in that area are also opposing the dumping of garbage,” Geeta Bai said.
She added that the civic body decided to set up garbage transfer stations at five localities in one-acre land each. The garbage will be dumped in a container with a capacity of 100 metric tonnes and will be directly shifted to Jindal Plant.”
CPI stages protest
CPI city secretary Donepudi Shankar on Wednesday staged a protest at Ajit Singh Nagar demanding the VMC to shift the accumulated waste from the locality. He even tried to dump garbage before Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu’s office. However, police prevented the agitating CPI activists and shifted them to a nearby police station.
“The public is facing a tough time due to mosquito menace and foul odour. Our demand is that the garbage transfer station should be shifted from the locality soon. If not, the CPI will observe a bandh on March 15 and intensity the agitation further.”