Vijayawada: Municipal administration and urban development (MA & UD) department on Saturday launched 'Operation Clean Sweep,' a four-week statewide sanitation campaign aimed at transforming municipalities into clean and dump yard-free urban centres through public participation and community involvement.

Minister for municipal administration and urban development P Narayana inaugurated the programme at Kurmaiah bridge on Sambamurthy Road near Bavajipet in Vijayawada by releasing balloons along with government whip and Vijayawada Central MLA Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, Swachh Andhra Corporation chairman K Pattabhiram, MA & UD principal secretary S Suresh Kumar, NTR district collector and Vijayawada Municipal Corporation special officer Dr G Lakshmisha, Swachh Andhra Corporation MD B Anil Kumar Reddy, municipal commissioner H M Dhyanachandra and campaign brand ambassador Dr G Samaram.

As part of the programme, the minister joined sanitation workers in sweeping roads, painted road dividers, planted saplings and later shared breakfast with the public at an Anna canteen.

Addressing the gathering, Narayana said the state government was implementing the special Swachhandhra campaign to make state clean and free from dump yards. He said the first week of the campaign would focus on cleaning roads and public places, while the second week would involve drain-cleaning activities with public participation. The third week would create awareness on waste segregation at households and commercial establishments, and the final week would focus on maintaining cleanliness in public toilets.

The minister said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had launched the Swachhandhra initiative in Machilipatnam on October 2, 2024, with the objective of encouraging public participation in sanitation activities. He added that the Chief Minister has been personally reviewing the programme by visiting one district every third Saturday.

Narayana said out of nearly 153 lakh tonnes of legacy waste left unattended earlier, around 85 lakh tonnes of above-ground garbage had already been cleared in record time under the directions of the Chief Minister. He said the remaining underground waste would also be removed by the end of June.

The minister further said the government was giving priority to waste-to-energy projects. While plants in Visakhapatnam and Guntur are already operational, six more projects are under various stages of construction and are expected to become operational within the next two years.

Swachh Andhra Corporation chairman K Pattabhiram said the government was striving to make the state a national model in sanitation through people's participation. He said steps were being taken to establish eight waste-to-energy plants and 107 waste processing centres across the State. He also noted that 2,000 electric vehicles had been deployed for door-to-door garbage collection.