Plastic waste chokes Rajahmundry

Plastic pollution, overflowing sewage turn bane of town

• Selected to be one of the Smart Cities
• River Godavari fast losing its serenity
• CM has ordered a face-lift, but in vain

Rajahmundry: The historical city of Rajahmundry seems to be ignoring the call of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create Swachh Bharat. The city finds itself in clutches of plastic and sewage water. Lack of civic sense is putting citizens in danger.

The city which has been included in the list of smart cities seems to be losing the serenity of mighty river Godavari.

Though the Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has announced a grandiose plan for the Godavari Pushkaram that would be held next year and directed the authorities to give a facelift to the city, tonnes of plastic garbage dumped in drains are posing a major challenge to the administration. People as well as the officials say that they have a herculean task ahead and are wondering as to how to overcome the problem.

It is estimated that 10 tons of garbage including waste and plastic is being produced every day from domestic, commercial and industrial sectors and the share of the plastic is about one tonne a day, which virtually chokes the pucca drains spread over a length of 444 km in city limits.

Initially when the plastic bags were banned, the use of plastic came down very drastically. But of late, despite the ban, its usage only increased multifold. Plastic mineral water bottles and bags constitute a chunk of the waste. The campaign initiated by municipal authorities to make use of dumpers and encourage segregation of dry waste and wet waste failed to deliver results.