VIJAYAWADA: A two-day canal cleaning programme, ‘Nenu Saitham Krishnamma Suddhi Sevalo’, will take off on Thursday in Vijayawada. In this drive, 102 NGOs, staff from 84 departments of the State government and over 25,000 people are expected to take part, and clean four canals that pass through the city.Bandar, Eluru, Rivas and Krishna east branch canals are highly polluted, and filled with sewage waste, plastics and many more garbage.
The Krishna district administration is aiming to make them free from all sorts of pollutants and make them fit for drinking purpose.Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Krishna district collector Md Imtiaz said, “We have identified 81 points that are highly polluted and in a vulnerable condition. Of these, we selected 21 places, based on the severity of pollution, to clean up in this drive.”
“Through Krishna river, as many as 15 lakh hectares of agricultural land is getting irrigated and over 40 lakh people are being supplied with drinking water.”He further stated that up to six km down the Prakasam Barrage, the canal was filled with plastic waste, building waste and other waste materials. “The commercial spaces, residential houses, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, push cart vendors on the river banks dump their waste in the canals.”
Speaking in this regard, M Rama Rao, VMC Commissioner said, “There is a need of awareness on proper disposal of trash and we are coming up with programmes to educate the public.”
Four city canals to be cleaned
The district administration is aiming to make Bandar, Eluru, Rivas and Krishna east branch canals free from all sorts of polluted materials and make their water fit for drinking purpose.