Diwali gone, but waste heaps dot city roads

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, October 21

After Diwali celebrations, garbage heaps can be seen at various places in the city as the Municipal Corporation (MC) has failed to find a permanent solution to the problem of waste disposal.

The city has been facing the problem of garbage lifting and disposal for the past many years.

With the absence of a dedicated garbage collection service by the civic body, the bins, due to their less capacity, remain filled and garbage scattered throughout the day, showing the plight of the Swachh Bharat project in the city.

Vehicles of the MC collect waste from many posh colonies, but the residents of other localities are bearing the brunt. Kaushal Singh, a resident of the city, said, “The approach of the MC towards garbage collection is biased. But it takes full measures for posh areas, while the others lie neglected. Many residential areas and market places across the city are littered with wrappers and cracker waste and are not cleared yet.”

Officials of the MC said they were looking after the problem and had deployed extra workers to lift the garbage from localities and roads on time. They said from many areas, the garbage had been already lifted, while the work was in progress in other areas. Officials promised that within two days, the garbage heaps from all main areas and localities would be cleared.

Residents said garbage from all areas of the city should be lifted without any bias. “It is a general perception that the MC authorities take more care of areas where influential people live. On the contrary the condition of areas like Focal Point, the dump under the flyover at the Lamma Pind chowk, Ram Nagar Colony (Sodal), Surya Enclave Extension, dump near Burlton Park and many more localities is pathetic,” said a resident Satnam Singh.

Large garbage heaps have come up after Diwali celebrations at the railway station and streets near the bus stand. A few vacant plots inside residential areas are being used to dump garbage. Residents demanded that the garbage should be removed from all areas of the city as the celebrations are now over.