Roadside garbage being lifted ahead of Durga Puja in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 8: The civic body will take up a special cleaning drive during Durga Puja.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation will lift the garbage twice on daily basis during the Pujas. “The corporation will ensure that the residents enjoy a clean Puja. The sanitation of 40 wards will be managed by the private contractors and that of the remaining 20 wards by the civic body,” said municipal commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra.

According to the statistics, everyday the city generates nearly 440 metric tonnes (MT) of solid waste. But during the Puja, 150MT of additional solid waste is generated. The city will house more than 150 pandals.

The civic body has also asked the Puja organisers to keep dustbins around the pandals for easy collection of garbage. In the last two Pujas, the city had witnessed deposition of huge amount of solid waste around various pandals.

The areas near Saheed Nagar, Nayapalli and Rasulgarh Puja pandals have been the worst affected ones in the recent past due to congregation of lakhs of visitors during Puja.

“The civic body must collect and lift garbage at least twice daily, so that the city remains clean during the Puja,” said Nayapalli resident Sailendra Sahu.

An official said private contractors had been asked to ensure cleanliness during and after the Puja, failing to which actions would be initiated against them.

In another development, police have categorised the pandals in three segments — A, B and C.

A senior police official said the segmentation was based on the sensitivity of the pandals and expected turnout.

The police deployment would be separate for each category. As many as 35 platoons of police would be deployed to ensure a peaceful Puja.