The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation has been declared as “Water Plus” by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under Swachh Bharat Mission and Swachh Survekshan Assessment, GVMC Commissioner G. Srijana announced here on Saturday.
It is learnt that along with Visakhapatnam, Tirupati Municipal Corporation and Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) too had received the tag.
Water plus certification is the next stage of ODF ++ given for liquid waste management. For ODF++, the city should have safe disposal of water and for ‘water plus’, the treated water should be reused. Cleanliness of public toilets, garbage collection, UGD system and how far the treated water is being released into the environment and number of components will be checked.
After GVMC declared itself as Water Plus in December 2020, a third party from Swachh Bharat Mission inspected the city during July 2021. The team inspected public toilets, septic tank disposal system, parks, public places, Sewage Treatment Plants (STP) for couple of days. The team also visited 76 locations which include public places, commercial spaces, transport hubs, water bodies, industrial hubs, treatment plants, barren areas and certified “Water Plus”.
Ms. Srijana said that the central team had checked the garbage collection procedure, transportation and various scientific methods adopted for solid waste management system. The third party also inspected robotic machines which were used for Underground Drainage cleaning and 24/7 complaint service for the public. She said that usage of treated water at Golf Club, HPCL, Steel Plant and medians beautification had played a major role.
She also pinned hope that the certification would help in achieving good rank in Swachh Survekshan survey 2021.
