Anantapur: District Collector Dr. Vinod Kumar V, IAS, conducted a surprise inspection of sanitation works in Nirmalananda Nagar, Anantapur, on Tuesday. He instructed that door-to-door collection of wet and dry waste must begin daily by 6 AM without fail. He emphasized daily garbage clearance in commercial areas and directed sanitation secretaries to use walkie-talkies for effective communication.

The Collector mandated the deployment of one micro-pocket attender and two workers for every 350 households. He reviewed several key aspects including plastic waste disposal, number of sanitation workers per ward, garbage collection timings, and enforcement against shopkeepers dumping waste in public areas. Shopkeepers were advised to maintain separate bins for wet and dry waste, and strict action would be taken against those littering roads. He clarified that these were initial warnings, and future violations would attract penalties as per government regulations. Shopkeepers were also urged to keep their premises plastic-free. The Collector sought detailed ward-wise reports on the number of households and sanitation workers, and asked officials to recruit additional staff in under-served areas through a municipal resolution and report to CDMA. During his visit, he also interacted with a local resident, Rekha, who confirmed that sanitation workers regularly collect waste between 8–9 AM. He emphasized the importance of segregating wet and dry waste at source.

Commissioner Balaswamy informed the Collector that each tractor collects waste from nearly 1,200 households daily and transports it to the dumping yard. Noticing an injured sanitation worker, the Collector instructed officials to provide medical aid and supply gloves to all workers.

The inspection was attended by Municipal Commissioner Balaswamy, SC Corporation officer Chandrasekhar, Medical Officer Dr. B.L. Narasimha, Executive Engineer Shakeel, Sanitation Secretary Tauseef Sharma, and others.