VISAKHAPATNAM: Stacks of plastic waste and other garbage, including empty liquor bottles, were collected from the hilltop and the surrounding of the famous tourist destination Vanjangi Hill, located in Paderu mandal of Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) district in the past one week.
The tourist spot was closed from January 2 to 9 for maintenance works anticipating a rise in visitors during the Sankranti festive season.The tourist spot was reopened to the public on Wednesday (January 10).
The Vanjangi hills, situated under the Paderu mandal in ASR district, are located around 3,400 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL) and are home to one of the most beautiful sunrises (fluffy clouds kissing the peaks of the hills). The hill range was named after the Vanjangi, a small tribal hamlet and it became famous in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana.
Speaking to TOI, Mandal Parishad development officer, Paderu, K Sai Naveen said that they deployed five teams (each team consists six persons) for the cleanliness drive at various places from the foothill to hilltop. We have collected more than eight trucks of plastic and other wastes in the past one week.
Large quantities of plastic bottles, food covers, paper plates and some empty liquor bottles were among the waste cleared from the hilltop. Most of the trash was collected from the foothill of the tourist spot, where camps were set up for the visitors to stay, Sai Naveen added.
Expressing that the garbage count at tourist destinations in ASR district is a major concern, K Raghunath, a native of Lammasingi said that ever since Lammasingi hamlet under Chintapalle Mandal in ASR district hit the headlines for its coolest and dense fog (popular as Andhra’s Kashmir) during winter, has been witnessing huge rush of tourists during weekend.
Some tourists, mostly youngsters, are dumping the plastic glasses, plastic plates, empty liquor, and water bottles and few others at Lambasingi and Tajanji and they are spoiling the beauty of the spots. Though tourism is a revenue source for locals, some of the visitors are not keeping the places clean, Raghunath added.
Considering the increasing garbage count at tourist spots, the ASR district collector Sumit Kumar said that they decided to ban the plastic at the hilltop and appealed to the visitors to carry steel bottles for water to keep the place clean.
The tourist spot was closed from January 2 to 9 for maintenance works anticipating a rise in visitors during the Sankranti festive season.The tourist spot was reopened to the public on Wednesday (January 10).
The Vanjangi hills, situated under the Paderu mandal in ASR district, are located around 3,400 feet above Mean Sea Level (MSL) and are home to one of the most beautiful sunrises (fluffy clouds kissing the peaks of the hills). The hill range was named after the Vanjangi, a small tribal hamlet and it became famous in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Telangana.
Speaking to TOI, Mandal Parishad development officer, Paderu, K Sai Naveen said that they deployed five teams (each team consists six persons) for the cleanliness drive at various places from the foothill to hilltop. We have collected more than eight trucks of plastic and other wastes in the past one week.
Large quantities of plastic bottles, food covers, paper plates and some empty liquor bottles were among the waste cleared from the hilltop. Most of the trash was collected from the foothill of the tourist spot, where camps were set up for the visitors to stay, Sai Naveen added.
Expressing that the garbage count at tourist destinations in ASR district is a major concern, K Raghunath, a native of Lammasingi said that ever since Lammasingi hamlet under Chintapalle Mandal in ASR district hit the headlines for its coolest and dense fog (popular as Andhra’s Kashmir) during winter, has been witnessing huge rush of tourists during weekend.
Some tourists, mostly youngsters, are dumping the plastic glasses, plastic plates, empty liquor, and water bottles and few others at Lambasingi and Tajanji and they are spoiling the beauty of the spots. Though tourism is a revenue source for locals, some of the visitors are not keeping the places clean, Raghunath added.
Considering the increasing garbage count at tourist spots, the ASR district collector Sumit Kumar said that they decided to ban the plastic at the hilltop and appealed to the visitors to carry steel bottles for water to keep the place clean.
