Daresi area residents miffed over garbage strewn on road

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 3

Hundreds of visitors are forced to suffer as the MC has failed to remove a big garbage dump near the cremation ground at the Daresi area of Ludhiana. Though it is one of the prominent cremation grounds of the city, authorities concerned and elected representatives are yet to take necessary steps to resolve the issue.

The dump has been created on around 100 metres stretch along Buddha Nullah and near the cremation ground leaving the commuters to suffer a lot. The visitors to the cremation ground face a lot of inconvenience due to the big garbage dump that emanates massive stench.

Residents said the garbage lifting is not done timely. Whenever garbage is lifted, vehicles are stationed on road, causing traffic jam.

A visitor to the cremation ground said, “Huge traffic jams were witnessed when a two tippers and JCB machine were stationed for lifting of garbage on Tuesday. The dump creates a lot of inconvenience to the people who visit the cremation ground. It is hard to breathe due to foul smell emanating from the dump. MC Ludhiana and elected representatives should ensure removal of this dump near cremation ground. Moreover, when MC is running a campaign to make Buddha Nullah pollution-free, why this dump has not been removed till date?”

Surinder Dawar, MLA, Ludhiana Central Constituency, said he will talk to the MC authorities for early removal of the dump located near the cremation ground. “There is no location to set up static compactor to resolve problem of this uncovered dump. I will take necessary steps to get the issue resolved soon,” he added.

Notably, there are a number of similar dumps located on roads in the city, leaving the commuters to suffer a lot in routine. A garbage dump is also located on road portion near railway tracks at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar. The residents have been demanding from the MC and Ludhiana Improvement Trust to remove this dump at the earliest.

Arvind Sharma, a resident of SBS Nagar, said, “I have been writing to the authorities for removal of the dump for the past one decade but nothing has been done till date. Earlier, a structure for dump was constructed by spending lakhs of rupees but it had got damaged within a short period. The garbage is dumped openly on road due to which the commuters and nearby residents are suffering a lot. It should be removed at the earliest and shifted to a location away from residential area.”

Notably, the MC has planned to set up waste compactors to deal with problem of uncovered garbage dumps at different locations. However, there is no space available to setup static compactors at some locations.

Around five years ago, the MC had made a plan to buy new vehicles to transport garbage directly from houses to the main dump near Kakka village but nothing was done in this regard.

Mayor Balkar Singh Sandhu could not be contacted for a comment.