Mayor steps in to spruce up city in RMC 'swachh' drive

RANCHI: Mayor Asha Lakra started a cleanliness drive between Rajbhavan to Kantatoli Chowk via Circular road on Saturday early morning. She was accompanied by deputy mayor Sanjiv Vijayavargiya and other officials of Ranchi Municipal Corporation.
The mayor visited every spot where garbage was dumped and got it cleaned. "The aim of this drive is to assure that all the main roads of the city are spick and span all the time," she said.
Lakra added, "This is not just a one-day programme.This drive will continue on a regular basis after August 15 and we will personally monitor it by visiting all the major roads at least once every day." The mayor also appealed to the street vendors and locals to not litter the road and use garbage bins instead.
However, while the roads looked clean in the morning, garbage had accumulated in many places by afternoon. The deputy mayor said, "The garbage was dumped at few places by the door-to-door garbage collectors and it will again be cleaned the next morning."
Meanwhile, RMC also formed a cell on Saturday for the collection and disposal of waste construction materials. One has to pay a fee of Rs300 and do a pre-booking with the zonal supervisor to get a tractor for collecting construction material. However, now the tractor will reach the spot within one hour of calling the number 0651-2203036.
Lokesh Kumar Singh, transport supervisor of RMC, has been made the nodal officer of the cell and he has to ensure that the vehicles reach the spot on time. Additional municipal commissioner Bidyanand Sharma Pankaj said, "Two tractors have been reserved for the collection of construction material. We will soon be installing GPS in the vehicles for proper monitoring."
Also, the removal of cattle carcass, which was free of cost till date will now cost Rs1,000 for the cattle owner. Sharma said, "Sending the vehicle to collect the carcass consumes much fuel so we have decided to charge for the work now. However, the removal of carcass of stray cattle will be free."