Blame game on as garbage dots southern sectors of Chandigarh
Though Chandigarh residents blame garbage collectors for dumping the waste along the forest area, the municipal corporation officials said when garbage collectors refuse to pick up unsegregated waste, people dump the garbage on roads and in gardens
One can find heaps of garbage lying in the forest cover along the roads from Sector 39 to Sector 47 in Chandigarh when entering The City Beautiful from Mohali.
Though city residents blame garbage collectors for dumping the waste along the forest area, the municipal corporation (MC) officials said when garbage collectors refuse to pick up unsegregated waste, people dump the garbage on roads and in gardens. Though the civic body ensures to do aggressive challaning for not segregating waste from the source and for littering across the city, the dumping of mixed waste goes unabated.
“The garbage vehicles come every day between 10 am to 2 pm, but many times the collectors skip houses and as a result, people dump the garbage on roads and near forest areas. But only people are not to be blamed as garbage collectors can also be seen dumping the garbage in forest cover and then burning it. Burnt residues can be seen and heaps of garbage are lying on the roadsides” said Arti Dhiman, a resident of Sector 40-D.
Garbage collector Amit said, “If people do not separate wet or dry garbage, then we do not pick up their garbage. That is why, people throw their garbage along the road as there are no dustbins placed near the area and this is happening everywhere. The dustbin kept near the road was lifted 20 days ago and has not been reinstalled yet, leading to the people throwing garbage here and there. It becomes hard to collect the scattered waste.”
“Most of the time, the garbage collectors go door-to-door and bring garbage in their carts instead of garbage lifting vehicles, and later the waste is put into the garbage cart where the dry and wet garbage gets mixed. The amount of waste collected is very high. Since the waste is mixed, it cannot be separated later, it can be handled through micro-management but the MC needs to take action,” said L R Budaniya, an environmental activist.
MC commissioner Anandita Mitra said, “Both the incidents are correct and we have identified all such spots in the city. Following this, we are starting night vision to keep a check on the same.”
