GHMC rolls out Basti Action Plan

The primary goal of this programme is to ensure door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste and the elimination of garbage vulnerable points (GVPs).

Hyderabad: With growing concern regarding sanitation management in the city, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has rolled out a Basti Action Plan.

The primary goal of this programme is to ensure door-to-door collection of municipal solid waste and the elimination of garbage vulnerable points (GVPs).

---

The weekly plan will involve not just sanitation and Urban Community Development (UCD) staff, but also self-help group (SHG) members and colony residents.

With a ‘basti’ meeting on Monday where the team will discuss the goals for the week, on Tuesday households not tagged to the Swachh Auto Tippers (SATs) will be identified and counselled.

An awareness rally will be arranged the following day, to sensitise the residents of that area on the importance of handing over the waste to SATs and sanitation in general.

Further, motivational programmes and ‘rangoli’ competitions are planned on days four and five to enhance community participation.

Observing that the vendors in a colony are also major generators of waste, UCD officials will dedicate their Saturdays to understanding their sanitary challenges and finding solutions to them.

On the last day of the week, a ceremony will be conducted where the locals will make resolutions to keep their community and its surroundings clean.

“We have already started doing these programmes and it is important because without public participation we cannot do anything,” says a sanitation official.

So far, 1,333 meetings have been conducted in ‘bastis’ across the city, also involving SAT drivers and Slum-Level Federation (SLF) member