The municipal corporations on Monday have started removing accumulated garbage spread across streets of markets and residential areas, amid the ongoing strike by sanitation workers, which entered its 19th day.
This comes after cabinet minister Krishan Bedi on behalf of the state government met a delegation of the striking workers in Kurukshetra on Saturday and informed them that 13 of their 14 demands have been accepted.
However, regularisation of the workers remains the bone of contention between the both, due to which the strike was not called-off.
At the meeting, Bedi had informed the delegation led by Nagarpalika Karamchari Sangh Haryana’s state president Naresh Shastri that a legal advice is being sought to ensure compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court and the Punjab and Haryana high court to fulfil the demand for regularisation.
Karnal Municipal Corporation (MC) commissioner Saloni Sharma said that the government has sympathetically considered the various demands of sanitation workers and firefighters, and most have been accepted in principle.
“The government has taken important decisions to provide employees with improved service conditions and various social security benefits. The MC has launched a special campaign to maintain a smooth sanitation system. Tipper trucks were dispatched on Sunday morning for door-to-door garbage collection. Later in the afternoon, the work of removing garbage accumulated in various areas of the city also began, so that the sanitation system could be normalised and improved and people could get relief,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}“The government has taken important decisions to provide employees with improved service conditions and various social security benefits. The MC has launched a special campaign to maintain a smooth sanitation system. Tipper trucks were dispatched on Sunday morning for door-to-door garbage collection. Later in the afternoon, the work of removing garbage accumulated in various areas of the city also began, so that the sanitation system could be normalised and improved and people could get relief,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}MC officials said that so far over 350 metric tonne (MT) of garbage was collected with the help of tipper trucks, JCBs, loaders, and tractor-trolleys. On an average 232 MT of garbage is produced in the city per day.
“The situation worsened after August 19 and continued till August 23, when about 700 MT of garbage was accumulated due to no lifting. The situation has now improved,” an official said.
On Sunday, a tense situation prevailed due to a face-off between police and protesting sanitation workers after the authorities started lifting garbage from Karna Canal Market.
A similar face-off was witnessed outside the SP residence in Yamunanagar on Sunday, after which several protestors were detained.
Yamunanagar MC commissioner Mahabir Prasad said that the civic body has cleared garbage using JCBs and loaders in the presence of police.
He said that the sanitation wing is carrying out cleaning operations in all 22 municipal wards and clarified that if any employee obstructs other on-duty employees or hinders garbage collection under the guise of the strike, legal action will be taken against them.
On the other hand, Kurukshetra district administration has identified certain locations as “garbage-sensitive points” under the Thanesar Municipal Council and the municipal committees of Pehowa, Ladwa, and Shahabad.
Kurukshetra deputy commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena said that 29 duty magistrates have been appointed to oversee the clearance of these points, prevent any disputes, altercations, or untoward incidents, and maintain law and order.
The Thanesar MC has deployed three tractor-trolleys and two JCBs at various garbage dumping places to remove thrash.