Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) Commissioner Ketan Garg conducted a series of field-level inspections in the Anakapalli zone on Monday, focusing on sanitation, town planning, and ongoing infrastructure projects.

The visit covered Wards 80, 81, 82, and 84. Later, he issued a directive to officials to improve the responsiveness of the public grievance redressal system.

During the tour, the Commissioner expressed displeasure over poor sanitation management. He observed several textile shop owners dumping waste directly on the main roads and directed officials to enforce a rule requiring commercial establishments to hand over waste exclusively to night-shift collection vehicles.

In a warning regarding institutional accountability, Mr. Garg inspected a college campus in Sai Brindavan Colony (Ward 80). After learning that the institution was disposing waste in public areas due to scheduling conflicts with municipal vehicles, he said that the practice was unacceptable and warned that the facility would be sealed if violations persisted. Furthermore, he ordered immediate penalties on a local pan shop found dumping waste into a drain and cautioned the area’s sanitary secretary to enhance monitoring.

The Commissioner also inspected the proposed 184-metre drain construction site in Ward 84. He found the existing structures to be obstructing the alignment, and ordered officials to immediately mark the properties and prepare proposals for necessary action. He also directed the engineering wing to fast-track pending CC road and drain projects currently in the tender stage.

Grievance Redressal

Following the field visits, Mr. Garg presided over the ‘Public Grievance Redressal System’ (PGRS) programme at the GVMC headquarters, where 115 petitions were registered from across the city, including grievances from the Anakapalli zone. Majority of these concerns pertained to Town Planning (49) and Engineering (28) departments.

Addressing department heads, the Commissioner emphasised that recurring complaints indicate a failure in civic administration. “Officials must contact complainants immediately and resolve issues within the stipulated timeframe to prevent citizens from repeatedly submitting the same requests every week,” he stated.

Highlighting the need for greater public accessibility, Mr. Garg noted that a significant volume of complaints filed through the ‘Pura Mithra’ app and the PGRS portal remains pending. He directed all Zonal Commissioners and officers to ensure they are available to the public in their respective offices daily between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to ensure the swift disposal of civic issues.