Follow Us
Avneet Kaur
Jalandhar, February 17
Even after over four-and-a-half years of its official launch, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan does not seem to have reached here, which will soon become a smart city.
Heaps of garbage in city’s pivotal points and streets and roads remaining littered with plastic waste, fallen leaves, wrappers, empty bottles and animal excreta was a usual phenomenon before the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the same is the condition almost after five years of the Swachh Bharat initiative.
In the absence of proper garbage bins and negligence by the MC, garbage scattered on the Chuggiti bypass road presents a sorry picture with no provisions put in place to check the menace.
Foul smell emanating from the dumps irks nearby shopkeepers and passers-by. Whenever it rains, stink becomes unbearable, said Ravish, a commuter.
“Animals feed on the garbage littered alongside roads, squat sometimes on roads and streets, bringing the traffic to a halt. The stray cattle menace galores right from Chuggiti chowk to the road that leads to the railway station. Though the officials concerned say the issue will be resolved soon, nothing concrete is visible,” said Vinabh Kumar, a resident of Gobind Nagar.
Another shopkeeper in the area said: “The road leads to the GNDU regional campus and also connects to the national highway. In morning and evening, huge traffic could be seen on the road due to stray cattle blocking the way of vehicles. Being one of the busiest roads in the city, it is necessary for the corporation to install a proper garbage bin and ensure timely lifting of the garbage. Rag picking has to be curbed as a lot of garbage is scattered in that process.”
Interestingly, garbage from six wards — the ward Nos. 5, 7, 8, 14, 15 and 16 — is collected and thrown at the point but none of the councillor from these wards was clear whether in whose jurisdiction the Chuggiti chowk area falls.
Meanwhile, when this correspondent made calls to all these wards councillors, all of them expressed concern about the poor condition of the road and blamed the MC for negligence. The councillor of the nearby area, Manjinder Singh Chattha, said: “The road is common and leads to many wards, hence on residents’ request he had appealed to the MC Sanitation Department many times to install a high-capacity bin but all in vain as they always get away with their responsibility by citing several reasons.
However, MC chief Sanitary Inspector Hitesh Aggarwal said: “Concerted efforts were being made to curb the issue. Sanitation workers miss some points due to lack of garbage-picking machinery, but we are assuring that no area or chowk remains littered. We will look into the matter and will solve the problem soon.”
Nothing much has changed
Heaps of garbage in city’s pivotal points and streets and roads remaining littered with plastic waste, fallen leaves, wrappers, empty bottles and animal excreta was a usual phenomenon before the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the same is the condition almost after five years of the Swachh Bharat initiative. In the absence of proper garbage bins and negligence by the Municipal Corporation, garbage scattered on the Chuggiti bypass presents a sorry picture with no provisions put in place to check the menace.
2
3
5