Collector’s inspection drive from today

Vijayawada: Krishna District Collector P Lakshmi Kantam warned the officials of various departments against staying outside district headquarters in Machilipatnam.

Participating in Swachh Krishna programme here on Wednesday, he ordered the officials working at headquarters to submit their residential address or else he would report the matter to personal secretaries of the departments concerned recommending action against them for failure to stay in Machilipatnam.

The district officials must share the residential address, he added.The Collector announced that a week-long inspection of all offices, schools and other places would be conducted from Thursday.

The officials should visit the areas covered by them and look for any problems and difficulties faced by people. Especially, they should concentrate on condition of toilets and encourage people to go for the construction of individual toilets so that the district could be declared as Open Defecation-free (ODF).

Zilla Parishad Chairperson Gadde Anuradha stressed on meeting the target of individual toilets. She said that some people were not using the toilets fearing that septic tanks would fill and emptying them would be another problem. Though 670 out of 970 villages were declared as ODF, the targets were not reflecting the real picture in field level as people were not putting the toilets to everyday use.

A school headmaster had locked the toilets as there was no flow of water. Such cases were plenty if the government staff inspect at field level, she said adding that the officials should ensure the motto of declaring Swachh Krishna should be achieved by correcting such things.

Otherwise, only ODF figures would be there without result. The officials of the mandals, along with people’s representatives, should take initiative and inspect remote areas for proper utilisation of toilets.