Cleanliness drive over, but heaps of garbage stay in localities

The week-long cleanliness drive, conducted under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the city, came to a close on Thursday, but the drive seems to have not made much of a difference and heaps of garbage in various localities and on roads are still a common sight.

The week-long cleanliness drive, conducted under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in the city, came to a close on Thursday, but the drive seems to have not made much of a difference and heaps of garbage in various localities and on roads are still a common sight.

HT Image

One can easily spot a number of places across the city where garbage is scattered like any other usual day.
Much to the embarrassment of the civic body, garbage heaps have come up even in posh localities within 24 hours of the end of the drive, which reflected that either these areas have not been cleaned or garbage heaps developed overnight.

Heaps of garbage could be seen outside the civil hospital, inside the mini secretariat building and on scores of vacant plots.

The Municipal Corporation of Bathinda (MCB) workers were asked to put in extra efforts to clean the roads and streets under the drive, but litter was found along several roads on Friday.
An official in the MCB said that the workers had tried their best to ensure cleanliness during the drive, but the shortage of workforce was the problem and as it is also not possible to clean a particular area repeatedly.

"The cleanliness of vacant plots has always been an issue as there are over 20,000 vacant plots in the city. People should also not throw garbage in these plots," he said.