Trapped in toxicity: Residents of Visakhapatnam’s Gajuwaka struggle for breath of fresh air

Chirping birds, a pleasant morning breeze, and nature’s gentle awakening are not what greet the residents of Ward 76 in Gajuwaka, Visakhapatnam — also known as the ‘City of Destiny’. Instead, mornings here usually begin with the foul stench of garbage emanating from trucks lining up en route to the Garbage Transfer Station (GTS), operated by the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).

Though officially designated as a transfer station, locals describe it as nothing more than a dumping yard. Spread across nine acres, the facility receives hundreds of tonnes of waste daily before it is transported to Kapuluppada, the city’s main dumping site.