Issues of dog and mosquito menace raised in VMC council meeting

TDP and CPI(M) corporators staging a protest outside the VMC office, minutes before the beginning of the council meeting, in Vijayawada on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: K.V.S. Giri

Issues of dog and mosquito menace, scarcity of drinking water and incomplete underground drainage works were raised multiple times by corporators during the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation council meeting held on Tuesday.

In response to the questions raised by corporators on increasing dog menace in the city, the corporation officials said Navodaya Vet Society, Hyderabad, has been selected as a qualified empanelled agency through tendering process to provide Animal Birth Control services for dogs in Kurnool, Machilipatnam and Vijayawada. The corporation officials said the agency would work for three years and that a budget of ₹1.25 crore had been earmarked for the services in 2023-24.

Corporator for the 13th ward M. Venkata prasad pointed out how permission was accorded to widen the road from NTR Circle to the Check Post and work on it was still incomplete. He stressed the need for increasing the strength of sanitation workers in every division.

The corporators also talked about how fogging needed to be carried out across the city regularly to bring the menace of mosquito under control.

Telugu Desam Party floor leader N. Balaswamy and other corporators staged a protest outside the VMC office before the beginning of the meeting demanding continuous supply of drinking water. “Many places in the city have not been getting drinking water for the last 20 days. The corporation says repair works are under way. How long can the public wait to get drinking water,” he said.

Later, Commissioner Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar listed out the proposals for allocation of funds for various works and projects. Of them, he said a budget of ₹80 crore had been proposed for paying salaries to 3,478 outsourced sanitation workers in the city.