VIJAYAWADA: The canal bunds in Vijayawada city have become convenient places to dump construction and demolition debris. Though there have been clear guidelines on disposing construction debris, none seems to be following them. In fact, the public are throwing debris wherever they find vacant space.
The Union ministry of environment and forest had specified that a separate facility should be arranged to dispose the C&D debris in the cities having more than 10 lakh population.
However, in Vijayawada, which has more than 10 lakh population, there is no such facility. With the rise in construction activity in the city after announcement on location of the capital, a huge amount of debris is being produced and the builders are finding canal bunds as an easy option to discard the debris.
Large quantities of debris can be seen on Bandar Canal bund near Krishna Lanka and Kanaka Durga Varadhi. Similarly, the Eluru canal near Sitaramaraju bridge also has huge quantity of debris dumped there. The canals, which are already polluted due to garbage and sewerage, are getting deteriorated due to the C&D debris.
However, the VMC is turning a blind eye on the pollution caused by the C&D waste. The civic body is spending millions on developing greenery on canal bunds but is failing to check pollution and dumping of garbage on the bunds.
B. Srinivasulu, an official in the planning wing of VMC, said people are dumping debris and garbage near canal bunds after it is getting dark. "We are not able to identify those who dumped debris on the canal bunds," he said. The VMC has allotted 5 acres in Excel dumping yard to set up C&D processing unit but the state government is yet to call for tenders.
