Corporator mimics barking of a dog to highlight menace of stray canines in Vijayawada

Vijayawada Municipal Corporation council meeting discusses water, dog, and mosquito issues, sanitation staff shortage, and proposed solutions.

Drinking water issues, dog and mosquito menace in the city dominated the discussions once again in the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation’s council meeting held on July 10 (Wednesday).

C. Usharani, member of the 8th ward, pointed out how the garbage was piling up on roads, which again led to cows gathering around it. She said cows, which keep coming on to the roads, are creating trouble for drivers. She also said the number of sanitation staff has to be increased to meet the city’s requirements. She proposed that action be taken in these two issues.

Another corporator, Venkateswar Rao, mimicked the barking of a dog to highlight the menace in the city, leaving the council in splits. While every year the corporation spends money on animal birth control, why do we still grapple with the issue, he asked.

The same question was asked also by CPI(M) floor leader B. Satya Babu, also member of 50th ward, who said neither the dog nor the mosquito menace in the city seems to be coming down.

Regarding water issues, he told The Hindu later, that a summer action plan needs to be implemented a month before the start of the season.

As part of the plan, pipelines are cleaned, leakages are identified and plugged, repairs are undertaken. “This time, the plan was not implemented,” he said, adding that borewell water is not regularly tested and the problem of discolouration of water is still being reported from a few areas.

Regarding the problem of skeletal sanitation staff in the city, which was raised by more than two corporators, Mr. Satya Babu said: “When I became the corporator in 2005, there used to be around 3,700 sanitation workers. After 20 years, we still have the number of people catering to a larger population. How is this fair? We need 1,500 more workers given the rise in the city’s population.”