GHMC adopts new approach to eliminate Garbage Vulnerable Points

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) which has been attempting various strategies to eliminate the Garbage Vulnerable Points (GVPs) in the city, has now come up with a new approach to address the issue.

A total of 2,451 GVPs have been identified across the city and the GHMC has handed over the responsibility of keeping these places clean to 935 sanitation staff.

The civic body has decided to impose penalties on the sanitation staff who fail in measures to free their assigned points of garbage. It was also decided that the staff would upload the status of GVPs in the mobile app from 8.30 am to 9 am.

A series of related initiatives will be taken up including information, education and communication (IEC) campaign, setting up 1,000-litre capacity litter bins at selected commercial establishments and levying penalties on commercial establishments littering public places.

The GHMC has also appointed 292 Swachha Sathis in its 30 circles with each



Swachha Sathi monitoring around 10 GVPs. Meanwhile, plans were underway to set up exclusive street vending zones in different parts of the city to keep the city clean.

To further make sure the GVP elimination plan is implemented successfully, the GHMC has set timings for the lifting of garbage at GVPs. The GHMC staff or Hyderabad Integrated MSW Ltd who is the concessionaire for the Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Project or the Swachh Auto Tippers (SATs) should ensure the GVP is clean before 9 am.

“If there is a delay in lifting garbage, we will deploy private vehicles and the charges will be collected from the agency/SATs owners responsible for clearing it,” said a GHMC official.

Some of these suggestions to eliminate GVPs were given by the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) after assessing the root cause for GVPs, and gaps in infrastructure through a study that covered several residential and commercial areas.