VIJAYAWADA: Slogans of protest rent the air at the general body meeting of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation on Tuesday, with corporators of the TDP and the Left resenting the move to impose garbage collection charges.

The meeting adopted a resolution rejecting the proposal to collect Rs. 10 a month from every dwelling in apartment complexes towards garbage collection.

Following directions from the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department of the State Government, the VMC proposed to collect organic and non-organic wastes from residences in separate baskets for a price.

Black jackets

Even as the general body meeting was about to begin, corporators of the CPI staged a demonstration in front of the council hall. CPI(M) corporators sported black jackets painted with slogans against the proposal, while Telugu Desam Party (TDP) corporators picked up an argument with Mayor Tadi Sakuntala over the issue.

Though it was the 75th issue on the agenda, the TDP corporators demanded that it be discussed first after the question hour.

Congress corporator Samantapudi Narasaraju announced that the VMC would get a special grant of Rs. 20.79 crores from the 12th Finance Commission in a phased manner in the next four years.

CPI(M) suggestion

Launching a debate over the proposal to hire 11 dumper placers by paying Rs. 6.1 crores to private contractors for a period of three years, Ch. Babu Rao of the CPI (M) felt that instead of paying huge rent to the contractors, the VMC could buy the dumper placers with the special grant. P. Gowtham Reddy of the CPI seconded the proposal of Mr. Babu Rao. He said that contract system would pave way for corruption.

Kunuku Rajasekhar of the Congress, however, rejected the proposal stating that the VMC would have to spend more on maintenance of the vehicles than the amount spent on buying them. When the Mayor sought a voting, only 15 corporators out of the 53 supported the proposal of the Left parties. Expressing their resentment over the VMC's move to encourage contractors, the Left corporators staged a walkout.

Residents of Swargapuri area staged a dharna in front of the council hall demanding house sites, while the activists of the AIYF staged a dharna demanding a ban on soft drinks made by multi-national companies in educational institutions run by the VMC. The activists submitted separate memoranda to Ms. Sakuntala, who assured them that the issues would be discussed at length in the council.

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