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Garbage chokes Dehradun as sanitation staff stir continues
Garbage continued to pile up in residential areas and on the main roads in Dehradun amid the ongoing weeklong strike by municipal sanitation employees, forcing harried residents to hit cyberspace with their woes
Garbage continued to pile up in residential areas and on the main roads in Dehradun amid the ongoing weeklong strike by municipal sanitation employees, forcing harried residents to hit cyberspace with their woes.
Overflowing garbage bins and the streets strewn with waste have also worried the ruling BJP, which is focusing on the Tharali by-election and the impending local body polls.
On May 4, the term of urban local bodies expired and district administrations took their charge. From May 8, the contractual sanitation workers of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) went on the strike, demanding that their jobs be regularised.
About 610 sanitation workers are demanding promotion and 408 contract staff are pressing for regularisation. The 759 permanent employees also joined the strike, leaving the city in a mess.
State Congress president Pritam Singh met the protesting workers on Tuesday, seeking a settlement to their issues. He said, “The Congress government had issued an order in 2016 for inclusion of contractual sanitation staff in permanent posts. But the BJP hasn’t acted upon the order due to which the residents of capital are facing the inconvenience.”
The sanitation workers burnt an effigy of the government. Former Congress legislator Raj Kumar and Aam Aadmi Party district president Uma Sisodia supported the workers.
The corporation began cleaning work with the help of 120 members of the nullah gang and 75 night workers, but that isn’t enough.
“It’s not easy to replace us. The city needs at least 1200 sanitation workers. Engaging a handful people for the day task is like a drop in the ocean,” said Dheeraj Bharti, president of the contractual sanitation staff.
Deputy municipal commissioner Neeraj Joshi claimed to have engaged 290 outsourced staff in cleaning.
On May 10, the district magistrate (DM) directed night workers to return to work within 24 hours and issued a no work-no pay order. The DM divided the city into six sectors and handed over responsibilities to administrative officers. The outsourced employees were engaged in the cleaning job, but the effort fell short of the task at hand.
Expressing concern, BJP legislator Umesh Sharma Kau demanded a solid plan. Mayoral candidate Sunil Uniyal ‘Gama’, who is close to the CM, reached the protest spot and assured the workers to take up their demands.
Social networking website Facebook is filled with pictures of city streets piled up with garbage. Jatin Sabharwal, a user, posted on Monday a picture of Tehsil Road strewn with garbage. The post reads, ‘Please take care of this (garbage pile) officials. Don’t be ignorant.’ Similar pictures are circulating in local groups as well.
Dehradun Resident Welfare Front president Mahesh Bhandari has requested the government to address employees’ demands and save the city from garbage and pollution.
“We are trying to look into the matter. There are various technicalities involved and we hope to find a solution shortly,” urban development minister Madan Kaushik said.
Former BJP city president Umesh Aggarwal said, “If the government accepts the demands of this union, then other unions will start asking for the same. We discourage outsourcing of employees, but the union has left the government with no choice.”
