Kurnool: Apart from the lack of cleanliness, the lanes and bylanes are populated with pigs especially near residential colonies and densely populated areas.
Passersby are scared to walk on the roads in the evenings and early mornings and children are afraid to play in front of their houses.
Except for some main roads, pigs are sighted in almost all residential localities. Pigs are seen in large numbers in open spaces, in under-construction building sites and near eateries. The civic authorities appear to have turned a blind eye to the problem.
As per rough calculations the pig population in the city is at least 50,000. More than 90 families depend on pig rearing. Some of colonies where pigs are reared are in Budhavarapet, Sareennagar, Vaddegeri, Saibaba Sanjeevaiahnagar, Mujafarnagar, Geethamukarjinagar and Aroranagar.
The pigs are regularly transported from Kurnool to Bengaluru to its lucrative wholesale market. Pigs are said to be active carriers of virus that causes brain fever.
Kurnool Municipal Corporation commissioner S. Ravindra Babu said they have taken up special programmes to clean the city. Mr Babu says the civic body had allocated five acres of land to pig rearers near Pandipadu in Kallur mandal a few years back. But the pig rearers are not interested in going, he added. Efforts are on to make Kurnool ‘no pig zone city’, he added.
“Pigs, dogs and other animals carry the garbage and deposit it near houses. As the waste is from the hotels and residences are very high it may cause the spread of diseases,” K Mallikarjuna, resident of Krishnanagar said.
