VIJAYAWADA:The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has decided to construct a shelter for streetdogs along with a sterilisation centre for them here. It has hitherto been dependent on a local NGO for their sterilisation. The decision was taken at a meeting of the VMC Council here on Thursday.
Responding to complaints of the corporators from all the 59 divisions in the city that the streetdog menace had increased in their areas, VMC commissioner G Veerapandian said that the civic body had submitted proposals for the construction of the Streetdog Sterilisation Center (SSC) at Ajith Singh Nagar here at a cost of Rs 50 lakh. He added that the VMC also planned to distribute Raksha Anti-Rabies Vaccine worth Rs 20 lakh to various hospitals and that tenders had been called for this.
In other decisions, the council decided to equip the 30,000 street lights in the city with LED bulbs in the next 10 days at a cost of Rs 25 crore budget and hoped to cut down the power cost by 50 per cent.
The Council meeting witnessed heated exchanges between ruling Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress Party corporators over the measures taken by the corporation on augmenting drinking water supply in the city during the current summer season.
YSRCP corporator U Bahadur demanded that the council should discuss the measures taken by the corporation in this regard. Responding, the Mayor appealed to the corporator to raise the issue later. When Bahadur refused to heed to the Mayor’s advice, TDP Floor Leader G Hari Babu intervened in the matter leading to heated exchanges with the YSRCP leader. Then as the Mayor suspended Bahadur, he staged a protest walkout.