While the citizens have breathed a sigh of relief, with the news of no new cases in the past six days, the local authorities are still working round the clock to contain the virus. Last week, the GVMC (Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation), having identified containment zones in Visakhapatnam, have commenced round the clock disinfection work in the areas with their sanitation workers. In latest, the GVMC has partnered with APSRTC (Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation) to provide transport to the employees working at the containment zones. The APSRTC has obliged to the authorities’ request and agreed to ferry GVMC employees, from various parts of the city, to the containment zones. All staff will be stationed at areas closest to their residences.
This move has been taken amid the country-wide lockdown, where public transport has been shut down. 35 APSRTC buses have been deployed, at present, to pick up and drop the GVMC staff. The APSRTC officials said that further details, about which routes to ply the buses in, will be taken from the GVMC. Additionally, the GVMC has taken a few crucial steps to ease the staff into their new routine.
Shift timings changed; No more night shifts
At present, nearly 800 GVMC staff are deployed to conduct disinfection work all over Visakhapatnam during night time. In latest, the authorities have now decided to stop the disinfection work during night time, and deploy the employees during day shifts. The employees who were previously working, during mornings and afternoons, will now be limited to mornings only. The night shift workers will now be deployed to work during the afternoons.
Additional Staff Recruited:
The Andhra Pradesh State Government permitted the GVMC to recruit some additional staff during the coronavirus pandemic. The GVMC employed 1,000 sanitation workers to carry out the disinfection work in various parts of the city.
“Apart from the enforcement of the rules, all GVMC employees have been provided with new sets of hand gloves, masks and sanitizers during the lockdown period,” said GVMC Commissioner G. Srijana, IAS.
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