Corporation gears up to clear vacant plots

Kurnool: Cleanlinessis the key to public health, said Municipal Corporation Commissioner P. Vishwanath, as the civic body conducted a large-scale special sanitation drive in Kurnool on Sunday. As part of the second phase of the drive, wild vegetation was cleared from over 250 vacant plots across the city using 15 JCB machines. The drive was formally flagged off by the Commissioner at Bellary Chowrasta.

The special drive covered 127 vacant plots in Sanitation Divisions 7, 12 and 14 in the initial phase, followed by extensive cleaning operations across other parts of the city. Commissioner Vishwanath personally inspected the sanitation works in Shareen Nagar and Venkataramana Colony areas.

In Venkataramana Colony, he took serious note of a vacant plot where dense wild growth and garbage had accumulated. As the landowner had failed to pay VLT and ignored three notices, the Commissioner directed sanitation and engineering officials to clear the site completely and utilize it for municipal purposes.

The Commissioner also expressed strong displeasure over a nearby hospital management that had allegedly dumped construction and demolition waste along with hazardous material in the vacant plot.

He instructed officials to recommend cancellation of the hospital’s trade licence, stating that such acts pose a grave threat to public health and would not be tolerated.

Addressing officials, Commissioner Vishwanath said that unchecked growth of wild vegetation and accumulation of garbage in vacant plots leads to the spread of mosquitoes, snakes and poisonous insects, increasing the risk of seasonal diseases.