Centre sanctions Rs 31 crore for clean Vijayawada

Vijayawada: The Union government has sanctioned Rs 31 crore to Vijayawada city under the 15th Finance Commission grants to install air quality monitoring system, which will be useful to test the quality of the air and to check the air pollution levels in the city.

The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation will install 16 censors in different parts of the city for automatic testing of air quality. The censors will be fixed to the electrical polls on the road dividers to test and record the air quality levels. These devices will be installed at the important junctions where pollution levels and vehicular movement is high.

Speaking to media, VMC Commissioner Prasanna Venkatesh said the automatic air quality monitoring will help to check the pollution levels and take measures to control the same. He said the VMC will take measures like installing water fountains and growing plants on the dividers and along the roads.

He said air pollution testing censors will be arranged on KT Road, Mahanadu road, Patel Road, MG Road, Dabakotlu centre in Ajit Singh Nagar and other locations in the city. More sweeping machines will be roped in the important junctions so that the dust particles will be removed regularly on the main roads, where pollution levels are very high, he added.

Referring to increasing greenery and plantation, the commissioner said the canal bund beautification programme is underway and the VMC has planned to plant 25,000 saplings in the rainy season.

The VMC is creating awareness among the people on the protection of saplings. Keeping in view the monsoon season, de-siltation of drains is almost completed in the city and the VMC is taking measures to check water logging in the low-lying areas of the city.