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Kuldip Bhatia
Ludhiana, October 14
Going by the dismal level of sanitation on main and feeder roads as well as inner lanes of most localities, all littered with garbage, waste matter and malba everywhere, it becomes more than clear that cleanliness in the city has gone for a toss.
Except for gimmicks and at the most window dressing about cleanliness, it seems the Municipal Corporation (MC) has abdicated its basic responsibility of maintaining a reasonable level of sanitation.
The most unfortunate part of the situation is that nobody wants to take the responsibility for the dirt, filth and waste matter thrown along roads, vacant plots and even green belts in some posh localities.
Residents of many areas in the city complain that garbage is littered all along roads and streets. They said, “The work of collection and disposal of garbage, handed over to A to Z Waste Management Company, a private company, leaves much to be desired.”
“The indifferent supervisory staff of the MC health branch further compounds the problem,” they added.
“Even in posh colonies including Model Town, Sarabha Nagar, Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar and the Civil Lines, garbage dumps are overflowing. Waste is thrown around dumps on roads and streets,” said residents.
“Regular sweeping of roads and streets is a rare phenomenon and collection/disposal of garbage dumped along the road side or in dumps is erratic,” said Jagdish Raj, a resident of the Civil Lines.
Besides garbage, which gives the city an ugly look, condition of roadsides in Model Town Extension locality, developed by Ludhiana Improvement Trust, and handed over to the MC for maintenance, indicates that these spots have become a convenient dumping ground for malba (waste material from demolished structures).
Residents of the locality complained that tractor-trailers dumped loads of malba along roads, on pavements and even in green belts in the wee hours as it was convenient for those to dispose of the material at a vacant place and flee from the site.
“As a result, it has become difficult for us to walk on foot paths or along the road,” said a Manohar Singh, a resident of Model Town Extension locality.
The Municipal Health Officer, Jasbir Kaur, said A to Z Company had some temporary operational problems for disposal of garbage, which had been taken care of. He said garbage collection/disposal work had improved.
Another Municipal Health Officer, Dr Vipul Malhotra, said open secondary garbage collection points would be covered soon. He said 25 garbage compactors would become operational within next couple of months, which would solve the problem of overflowing garbage dumps.
Speaking out
"The smart city tag given to Ludhiana has not altered the ground situation (of sanitation) even a bit in the least. The city remains as dirty and filthy as ever with foul smell emanating from primary and secondary garbage dumping points." Ashok Marwaha, a hosiery manufacturer in Civil Lines.
"The regular sweeping by safai workers and collection/disposal of garbage by the private company has been a failure. The overall sanitation level continues to be pathetic. The MC supervisory staff must be made accountable for unauthorised garbage dumping places and poor performance by safai workers." Parminder Mehta, former councillor and vice-president, BJP
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