Residents take up garbage-lifting issue at Sukhbir's sangat darshan

After the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation and A2Z Group failed to ensure timely lifting of garbage from various dumpsites of late, residents took up the issue during the sangat darshan of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal in Chandigarh recently.

On the other hand, officials of civic body and A2Z are blaming each other for not lifting garbage from various sites in the city.

The residents told Sukhbir that they were suffering as garbage was not lifted from a dump near Canal Bridge on Dugri Road.

The garbage has spread up to 50 metres beyond the dump.The condition of other dumps is also similar as A2Z, which had entered into an agreement with MC for lifting garbage, accused the civic body of not paying its outstanding payment of around Rs 6 crore.

A group of residents led by Satish Thaman, member of District Ludhiana West Sub-Division Grievances Redressal Committee, gave a memorandum to Sukhbir on September 10 urging him to look into the matter.

Thaman said the condition of other dumps is similar as the students of Khalsa College for Women, Ghumar Mandi, were also complaining since a dump is located near their college.

Manjit Singh, a social activist, raised question about this while the residents of Aggar Nagar have also warned the MC to serve a legal notice in this regard.

Singh said despite having filed several complaints, A2Z is not performing its job properly due to which residents are forced to live under unhygienic conditions.

Thaman said the officials concerned at the Sangat Darshan assured to look into matter at the earliest.

A2Z Group vice-president BPS Chauhan said, “The MC is not paying our pending payment of Rs 6 crore due to which we are unable repair our vehicles. The road that leads to the dump is in a very bad condition and our vehicles are developing snags frequently.”

“We have filed several complaints but the MC has not repaired the road. It has not paid our dues for last five-six months. We are doing our job but the MC should also take steps to repair the road,” he added.

A senior MC official claimed that the civic body owes Rs 1.5 crore to the A2Z Group.

Amarjit Singh Sekhon, chief of MC’s health and sanitation wing, said, “The road inside the dump was supposed to be constructed by A2Z Group. A2Z is responsible for lifting garbage from the dumps. It is their negligence if the garbage is not being lifted properly.”