Garbage piles up as staff protest

GARBAGE IN many areas of the City went uncollected on Thursday after Health Department staffers refused to cart waste to the Devguradia trenching ground until the approach road was repaired.

GARBAGE IN many areas of the City went uncollected on Thursday after Health Department staffers refused to cart waste to the Devguradia trenching ground until the approach road was repaired.

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The employees charged that recent rains had badly damaged the road creating huge craters that were nearly impossible for garbage-laden vehicles to negotiate.

Unable to make their way to the trenching ground the lorry drivers had apparently taken to unloading their vehicles on the road itself, sparking protests from nearby residents.

Matters reached a head on Wednesday evening, when the residents warned the IMC staff of dire consequences if they offloaded refuse on the road in the future. Upon their return the drivers handed an ultimatum to their bosses to get the road repaired and declared that they would undertake no more trips to the trenching ground until this was done.

True to their word the drivers refused to ferry garbage today. As a result piles of refuse consisting of polythene bags, PET bottles, rotten food and other flotsam and jetsam of urban life lay uncollected in many areas including upmarket localities like Saket and Palasia. Bad to begin with, the stench raised by the garbage became unbearable after heavy rains lashed the City towards the evening.

Both Mayor-in-Council member in-charge of Health and Chief Municipal Health Officer Dr A K Puranik, however, denied that garbage collection was affected.