Poor sanitation plagues Smart City

Kakinada: Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Smart City authorities were widely criticised for failing to maintain sanitation in rainy season in the city. People said that some areas are looking like garbage dumping centres while roads are turning filthy drains due to rains.

According to the KMC officials, they couldn't cover sanitation of the entire Smart City due to insufficient staff. People alleged that this lack of adequate staff is the cause of poor sanitation as the workers are cleaning and sweeping a few prime centres, neglecting other areas. Also, it was alleged that these workers are neglecting areas, which are prone to viral fevers and dengue, and negligent towards their duty.

With this, poor people are falling prey to viral and dengue fevers in the Smart City. Sanitary inspectors are not paying any attention to clean the roads and drainages except in posh colonies. Sanitation staff and inspectors are reportedly paying a deaf ear to the instructions of District

Collector and KMC Special Officer Krithika Shukla, KMC Commissioner K Ramesh and other top

officials. Kakinada, which once hailed as Pensioners Paradise, now has lost its old glory and senior citizens are not happy at the present situation here.

Residents complained that streetlights are not functioning in certain areas like Yetimoga, Dwarakanagar, Mallayya Agraharam, Ramaraopet, Ganjamvari street, Pratap Nagar and others. A few residents questioned, "Why the Commissioner and sanitation workers are not doing their duty when they are paying taxes to Kakinada Municipal Corporation (KMC)." They criticised that

the KMC is interested in collecting all types of taxes including garbage tax. Why the KMC is not hiring more workers for sanitation purpose? they questioned.

Pointing out that gravel is surfacing on the roads due to poor quality and causing inconvenience to regular commuters, people questioned as to why the KMC authorities are paying bills to the contractors without checking the quality. KMC Commissioner Ramesh was criticised that he is not paying any attention to the complaints of the people regarding sanitation. A local TDP leader questioned where the Central funds released for Kakinaga Smart City have gone. He demanded a thorough inquiry into the utilisation of these funds. He wondered why the sanitation staff are neglecting low-lying areas when the people of these areas are also paying garbage and house tax. He questioned the authorities as to why the sanitation workers are not cleaning his locality even despite they are paying taxes regularly.

Another big problem the residents of several areas facing is drainage system. Water, particularly during rainy season, gets stagnated and becomes breeding areas for mosquitoes. They observed that the KMC is not paying attention after it received the Central government funds.

Psychologist APJ Vinu complained that the officials are totally apathetic towards people's complaints. He said lack of sanitation is the mother of all fevers and infections in Kakinada and added that there are no sufficient beds and proper medicines in the Government Hospital. Citizens' Initiative secretary Duvvuri Subrahmanyam said that pigs and stray dogs are roaming freely in many places like Gandhi Nagar, Yetimoga, Karanamgari junction, Mallayya Agraharam, Jagannaickpur and others and creating panic among the locals.