VISAKHAPATNAM: Full-fledged implementation of door-to-door garbage collection is still a dream for the fifth cleanest city in India. Residents of many areas in the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) limits complain over the non-availability of sanitary staff for garbage collection in the mornings.
The door-to-door (DtD) garbage collection is confined to major areas abutting the National Highway and some other zones. The residents of many interior colonies and hilly areas have been complaining over failure in garbage collection. There are complaints that the garbage is not collected on a daily basis in several areas. “It’s not a daily process in our area. Since the worker doesn’t come some days, we store the garbage if it’s less or throw it in a dumpbin near our street,” said Ch Aruna Devi, a resident of the HB Colony. Interior colonies of Isukathota, Madhavadhara, Akkayapalem, Maddilapalem, Madhurawada and PM Palem face similar problem. The residents of hillslopes complain that the sanitary workers are not seen at all for the DtD collection and only lift the garbage from the dumpbins in the areas. “Sometimes even the small dumpbins which are placed near our area are seen brimming with garbage or even spill onto the road. Main thoroughfares in the city are clean, but the sanitary workers neglect hillslopes,” added M Manmadha Rao, a resident of hillslope near Madhavadhara. The areas on the city outskirts like PM Palem, Madhurawada, Yendada and Paradesipalem haven’t seen implementation of DtD collection of garbage.
Awareness Needed
GVMC commissioner Pravin Kumar said that there were many instances when people delayed garbage disposal. He appealed to the people to dump the garbage in the door-to-door garbage collection vehicle or hand it over to the sanitary workers. He admitted there were some areas where full-fledged implementation of the DtD had to be taken up.