Garbage menace: PAC protests, blame Ludhiana MC officials’ lackadaisical attitude

Engineer Gagnish Khurana and Harpreet Soin said from May 1, PAC will hold peaceful protest in front of the residence of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Ludhiana central Ashok Pappi Prashar

Members of the Public Action Committee (PAC) organised a selfie-point protest against illegal dumping of garbage in open on Sunday, the eighth consecutive week, in front of the open garbage dump at Saidan Chowk, which comes under the constituency of MLA Ashok Prashar Pappi.

PAC members protesting in front of the open garbage dump at Saidan Chowk in Ludhiana on April 24. (Harvinder Singh/HT)

Advocate RS Arora and Colonel (retired) CM Lakhanpal said despite change in political regime, the plight of Ludhiana is the same.

Vijay Kumar, whose factory is adjoining the illegal dump at Saidan Chowk, said four members of his family died following diseases due to this illegal dump and he himself is now suffering from breathing problem but no one has ever tried to lift a finger.

Engineer Jaskirat Singh, Mohinder Singh Sekhon and Kuldeep Singh Khaira informed, “The city residents have started joining the movement and our agitation will continue till the open dumps are removed from the city and processing of garbage at Tajpur Dump starts efficiently.”

Engineer Kapil Arora and Mohit Saggar added that the bureaucratic red tape could be gauged from the fact that the civic body has hired a consultant who would prepare the DPR by September. “Which means, the processing of garbage at Tajpur is not likely to start in 2022. The chief minister and local bodies department should take cognizance and order a probe into their failure in providing a healthy and safe environment to residents of Ludhiana,” Arora said.

The PAC members claimed that they have video footage of civic body employees seeking bribes from street vendors in lieu of putting up kiosks on the road.