News

Visakhapatnam: Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) officials are to collect waste from chicken and meat shops with the help of a GPS-enabled waste collection system similar to the one in place in Mysore, Karnataka. The proposal was mooted to check the practice of dumping chicken waste along the roads by vendors as this was leading to dog menace and unsanitary conditions in the city.

The GVMC authorities have been asking the chicken and meat vendors to keep a dust bin and dispose the waste scientifically with the help of the corporation staff, but after finding no desired results despite persuasion, the corporation decided to introduce the GPS system. The city has nearly 1,000 authorised chicken and meat shops that generate 7 to 8 tonne of waste such as feathers, skin and other inedible portions daily.

GVMC officials will first identify the chicken and meat shops in the city and collect detailed data including Aadhaar numbers and contact numbers of the vendors as well as route maps of the shops. Subsequently, the corporation will deploy dedicated vehicles that will collect the waste from shops ear-marked by the corporation. If waste is not collected, a red bulb will light up at the monitoring station situated at the GVMC’s head office, otherwise a green light will glow.

A senior GVMC official said the corporation staff is likely to visit Mysore before embarking on the project. “The GVMC will use the collected chicken waste in two ways — manufacturing by-products to feed dogs, cats, cattle and other animals or go for scientific disposal where the waste will be buried 15 feet deep and the pit closed by applying calcium carbonate or limestone,” the officer said.