CPM flays civic body for keeping away from garbage collection

• Babu Rao says the establishment of compost plant will put additional burden on business firms as it cost lakhs of rupees
• Asks the civic body to withdraw notices issued to hotels, apartments and business establishments 

Vijayawada: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is shirking its responsibility of removing garbage from the premises of restaurants, hotels, apartments, marriage halls and business establishments by instructing them to prepare compost from the garbage by setting up a plant for that purpose.

Addressing newsmen here on Saturday, CPM leader Ch Babu Rao said that it was a shameless act on the part of the municipal corporation to ask people to set up their own compost plants. “It is nothing but an indirect way to impose burden on people,” he said.

The VMC recently issued a notice to the hotels, apartments and other business establishments to set up their own compost plants and if they do not do it, their trade licences would be cancelled. Babu Rao said that the VMC was passing on the responsibility of removing garbage to people indirectly.

“If the garbage was stored in our own premises, it would cause health problems to people,” he said and added that it would cost several lakhs of rupees to establish own compost plants. 

The VMC has been collecting garbage from the citizens and is trying to shirk its responsibility, he assailed the ruling party.

The people have already been paying several taxes including water tax, drainage tax, trade licence fee, garbage collection tax and they are asked to keep the garbage in their own houses, he rued.

The VMC had miserably failed to have its own dumping yard for the garbage during the last four and half years and the TDP government which stated that power would be generation from the garbage had entirely dropped the idea now, he said.

Holding the TDP government responsible for the failure of garbage removal, he stated that the officials are simply following the government orders in this respect. He warned of a massive agitation if the latest notice was not withdrawn immediately.