Visakhapatnam: The public health department of Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation ( GVMC ) has come up with a novel way to raise awareness about viral fevers in the city. The department has proposed to use the upcoming Ganesh festival to spread the message of the need to keep the city clean and green.Organisers will be asked to play either a video or an audio clip on the ways to keep the city clean at the pandals. Usually, every pandal is equipped with loudspeakers to play songs and make announcements. The health authorities would now ask organisers to use those loudspeakers to also spread the message on health and viral fevers.Confirming this to TOI, GVMC commissioner M Hari Narayanan said “Yes, we have decided to use the loudspeakers at the pandals to spread the message on the need to check viral fevers in the city. We will tell them to play the social messages instead of the songs at least during the peak hours.”On the other hand, city police are busy issuing no objection certificate (NOCs) to the festival organisers who approached them online and offline.Speaking to TOI, Visakhapatnam city police deputy commissioner of police (law and order) Kaginelli Fakeerappa said that they have received nearly 2,200 NOC applications so far.Fakeerappa said that while 1,200 odd applications were received online, the rest were physically filed by organisers.“We have issued NOCs to nearly 350 odd applications after conducting a spot verification. These 350 applicants were also issued QR Code from the department,” Fakeerappa added.Fakeerappa further said that the permissible height of the Ganesh idol in the city for immersion in the sea is eight feet. If the height exceeds eight feet, the idol must be immersed on the spot, he said while adding that less than five applicants approached them for spot immersion due to the height of the idols.“We will complete issuing NOCs by Wednesday evening. Ganesh pandals should not be established without permission from the organizing committee members including the police,” Fakeerappa clarified.

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