Garbage piles raise a stink in Mohali

SAS NAGAR, Aug 4: The rising piles of garbage along the roads of this township seem to bother no one but the residents. The stench, the u...

SAS NAGAR, Aug 4: The rising piles of garbage along the roads of this township seem to bother no one but the residents. The stench, the unsightly mess, moves none but the denizens of the town.

quot;Certainly the safai karamcharis don8217;t care 8230; it8217;s been more than two weeks since I8217;ve seen any of them turn up to sweep the street or lift the trash,quot; grumbled Phase X resident Balwinder Kaur, adding: quot;The Municipal Council is doing absolutely nothing.quot;

quot;A Municipal Council garbage-lifters come through Phase I once in a blue moon and ditto the safai karamcharis,quot; said Gurpreet Singh of Phase I.

S.S. Cheema of Phase VII wants the MC to implement its privatisation policy immediately. Councillors too complain that roads in their wards are not cleaned for months and the garbage containers are only cleaned once a week which is inadequate in view of the growing population.

While residents see the piles as founts of disease, SAS Nagar8217;s garbage dumps are a grand buffet for pigs and cattle and a source of livelihood for hundreds of rag-pickers who make the situation worse by scattering the refuse. In addition the rag-pickers are unpopular because of their thieving potential.

According to sources, the Municipal Council8217;s Sanitation Wing is short-staffed: out of a total strength of 120, only 25 persons are on garbage removal duty. The source confides that the manpower shortage is exacerbated by the fact that several government officials have quot;commandeeredquot; some 20 council employees to work at their residences. Of the remaining workers, on an average, 10 employees are on leave every day. So, only about 90 men are available to carry out sanitation work. Some months ago, the council had proposed to privitise sanitation but failed to implement the proposal.

The Council8217;s five garbage removal vehicles are all running on bald tyres and punctures are common. Employees themselves criticise the government ban on DDT and other chemicals and say that bleaching powder alone is not sufficient to sterilise the area.

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Municipal Council president Harinder Pal Singh agrees that sanitation work has been inadequate but says: quot;It is improving slowly. Privatisation will solve the problem and the arrangement will be in place soon; the Council has invited tenders for it. One problem is that SAS Nagar has no proper landfill for garbage. Right now, low-lying areas outside the MC limits are being used pending selection of a permanent site. Talks are on for it with a private party about this. It8217;s also true that MC workers are being used at officer8217;s residences. It8217;s wrong but I can8217;t do anything about it.quot;