Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration (CDMA) P. Sampath Kumar said that the government has taken up ‘Operation Clean Sweep’ to instil a sense of awareness regarding sanitation among the people residing in cities and towns across the State.

Mr. Sampath Kumar, along with District Collector A. Siri and Panyam MLA Gouru Charitha Reddy, inaugurated desilting and sanitation works on Saturday at the drainage canal near Ashwini Hospital in the city’s A-Camp area, as well as at the Suddavagu stream.

Speaking on the occasion, the CDMA said special sanitation drives are being conducted across cities and urban areas for a period of four weeks as part of the ‘Swarnandhra–Swacchandhra’ initiative. He said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu envisions a significant transformation in the cleanliness standards of the State’s cities and towns.

The primary objective of ‘Operation Clean Sweep’ is not only to enhance public awareness but also to practically demonstrate that cities can be made clean and hygienic with the active cooperation of the citizens. He said special sanitation drives were undertaken in roads, intersections, and waste accumulation spots during the first week, desilting and cleaning operations for drains, canals, and channels are being carried out across all cities and towns in the State during the second week.

Mr. Sampath Kumar said that local bodies play an 80% role in maintaining cleanliness while public participation constitutes the remaining 20%. He lauded Kurnool Municipal Corporation for beautifully transforming the K.C. Canal under the leadership of Commissioner Challa Obulesu.

The CDMA said keeping the financial constraints of local bodies in mind, the government itself is bearing the costs for initiatives like bio-mining and distribution of e-autos. As per the recent Supreme Court guidelines, district collectors have been vested with powers to take strict action against activities detrimental to the environment, he said. Guidelines would soon be issued to impose heavy fines on those littering on roads, and legal cases would be registered against them if deemed necessary, he added.

Meanwhile, the Collector said that in the third week, awareness programmes on waste segregation would be conducted alongside the cleaning of commercial areas, The fourth week would specifically focus on cleaning public toilets and areas where waste has accumulated.

Noting that approximately 225 tonnes of waste are generated daily within the city, Ms. Siri stated that if citizens segregate their household waste into wet and dry categories before handing it over to the Municipal Corporation, it can be managed efficiently through the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plant.

Ms. Siri informed that the city had already succeeded in significantly reducing millions of tonnes of accumulated waste through bio-mining.