Minister for MA&UD P. Narayana, along with GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg, during an inspection of a drain near Lawsons Bay Colony in Visakhapatnam on October 18, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Minister P. Narayana has asked the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) to initiate measures to ensure that all the sewages are treated properly before being drained into the sea.
“In the next 18 months, all the sewage discharged through drains will be treated,” he said after inspecting the major drains, including a few in Lawsons Bay Colony and Pandurangapuram on Friday (October 17, 2025) night.
Visakhapatnam East MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu, GVMC Commissioner Ketan Garg and other officials accompanied Mr. Narayana.
During the inspection, Mr. Narayana said that the government was working on comprehensive plans to make the coastline clean, eco-friendly, and pollution-free.
Around 380 MLD (million litres per day) of water is being supplied to the city for drinking and other purposes, of which 263 MLD is used water. Out of this, 179 MLD is already being treated, while plans are afoot to treat the remaining 54 MLD, along with another 25 MLD under the AMRUT 2.0 scheme.
He said that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had directed that not even a single drop of untreated sewage should enter the sea, and the beach should remain free from pollution. In line with these directions, several drains leading into the sea were inspected, he said.
“Sewage currently flows into the Visakhapatnam beach through 25 major drains, out of which 13 drains have already been connected to underground drainage systems. For the remaining drains, treatment plants will be set up to ensure proper sewage purification,” he said, adding that the GVMC Commissioner has been instructed to initiate the necessary measures.
The Minister said that he would revisit Visakhapatnam within ten days to meet with the city’s MLAs, discuss their suggestions, and prepare a comprehensive plan to prevent sewage from mixing into the sea through city drains.
GVMC Chief Engineer P.V.V. Satyanarayana Raju, Chief Medical Officer Dr. E.N.V. Naresh Kumar and others were present.
Published – October 19, 2025 08:55 am IST
