PAC activists protest failure of MC in solid waste mgmt

Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, April 3

Carrying placards and raising slogans against the Municipal Corporation for its alleged complete failure to manage solid waste and deal with heaps of garbage lying in every nook and corner of the city, activists of the Public Action Committee (PAC) for Environment and Conservation held a protest outside the residence of MC Commissioner Pradeep Sabharwal here.

The protesters specifically raised their voice against dumping garbage and waste into the Budha Nullah as well as the Sidhwan Canal, which is not only causing high degree of pollution but also making groundwater of the surrounding areas toxic and unfit for human consumption.

Activists of the PAC said by its failure in proper segregation, collection and disposal of garbage at primary collection points and dumps, the MC has snatched the right of the citizens to live in a clean city. “Both the Budha Nullah and Sidhwan canal have become dumping grounds for garbage, waste material and toxic effluents, while the MC has been reduced to a silent and helpless spectator,” said Kuldeep Khaira, an environmentalist.

Other participants in the protest Kapil Arora, Hari Om Jindal, Nitin Davar, Amrita Managt and RS Arora took on the civic body for its failure to effectively implement the ban on single-use plastic for which an Act was formulated way back in 2016.

They said the MC had gone in a deep slumber and that is the reason that the residents had to take to streets to make the MC enforce ban on plastic which is the single major factor for causing pollution and choking sewer lines as well as water bodies in the city.

The protesters said it is regrettable that the MC sanitation and health staff is cleaning only those places which are being highlighted through selfie points and protests, while elsewhere in the city people are made to live with hillocks of garbage and overflowing garbage dumping sites.

“MC officials as well as the elected representatives (councillors) have failed the people in discharging their first and foremost constitutional duty to keep the city clean for the last many years and it is up to the newly elected AAP legislators to get down to the task of ridding the city and its residents of garbage and filth,” said Kapil Arora and other protesters.