Ludhiana: Dumped garbage troubles staff, students at Model Town school

School principal says repeated complaints to MC and councillor yielded no permanent solution; councillor refuted allegations, says she was never approached

Students and staff at Guru Nanak Public School in Model Town Extension have been grappling with foul smell and unhygienic surroundings because of a persistent garbage dump next to the school. The school claims it has spent around ₹1 lakh getting the site cleared five to six times, while the local councillor denies being approached for a solution.

Waste dumped near Guru Nanak Public School at Model Town Extension in Ludhiana on Friday. (Gurpreet Singh/ht)

School authorities said the dump, located alongside the school wall, had been cleared repeatedly at their own expense. They said repeated complaints to the Municipal Corporation (MC) and the local councillor had failed to bring about a permanent solution.

“This is right adjacent to the school wall. It causes a stench and the students have to put up with it. We are troubled due to this illegal dump here. Our management has tried reaching out to the MC and the local councillor but nothing came out of it,” said principal Darspreet Kaur.

School transport in-charge Gurpreet Singh Bedi alleged that private workers engaged in door-to-door garbage collection were dumping waste at the site instead of taking it to designated MC compactor sites. “We have spent around ₹1 lakh in getting this area cleaned five to six times,” he said.

Bedi said MC officials had also caught some private sanitation workers dumping garbage at the site. However, the action did not lead to a permanent solution, he said, adding that zonal commissioner, Zone D, Jasdev Singh Sekhon, was also aware of the problem.

Ward 53 councillor Tina, however, denied the claims that the school had approached her over the issue. “The school has never approached me. I would have got the problem solved if they had approached me,” she said.

Kaur rejected the councillor’s claim and alleged that she was aware of the problem.

Sekhon did not respond to calls or text messages seeking his response.