Residents of Vijayawada’s Ajit Singh Nagar locality may soon be able to breathe easy, with the local dumping ground in the area set to be relocated, and to be replaced with a public park. With a large amount of garbage piled up on the ground used by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC), the dumping yard had become a huge problem, posing a health hazard to residents of the Vambay Colony.
Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister Botsa Satyanarayana visited the area on Friday morning, accompanied by Vijayawada Central MLA Malladi Vishnu and Commissioner Prasanna Venkatesh. Satyanarayana told reporters that the dumping yard would soon be shifted, and a park will be built in its place.
Satyanarayana said that while half of the ground is being used as a transit yard for garbage by the VMC, the other half, which is being used as a dumping ground, will be made into a park. The transit yard is expected to be shifted to another place in Guntur district within 2-3 months, after which the space will be made available for the locals.
According to the VMC, nearly 3,000 families are living in the vicinity of the dumping yard. And more families are going to move in as well because the APTIDCO (Andhra Pradesh Township And Infrastructure Development Corporation) is constructing affordable urban housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in Vambay Colony. Earlier, houses were built here under the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana.
The residents had complained of the pollution, mosquitoes and stench giving rise to health concerns, and had been demanding that the dumping ground be cleared for a long time. The Ajit Singh Nagar locality also houses Vijayawada’s only bio-methanation plant, which was undergoing renovation and is set to begin operation soon. In the past, residents have protested against restarting the plant because of the stench that comes when it is in operation.