MC turns a deaf ear as institute for blind complains of waste outside

PK Jaiswar

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 25

The 15 pupils putting up at the Institute For The Blind near Lohgarh Chowk cannot see, but for sure can smell the miasma of heaps of garbage being piled up day after another outside their safe haven amid these Covid-hit times.

And the Municipal Corporation seems to have turned deaf to their pleads. “From councillor to Mayor to MC Commissioner, we have contacted everyone pleading them to lift the large garbage bin from outside,” laments Sushil Kumar, caretaker of the institute.

The problem has been existing for many years and the organisation’s authorities have gone on to remind MC’s time and again but no one seems to hear them, they don’t even bat an eye. “For past 10 years we have sending reminders to the civic authorities. It is apparent they care nothing about the plight of the visually challenged students here,” Sushil adds.

Further doubling their their woes, several shopkeepers had also discarded unserviceable vehicles outside the institute. During hot and humid conditions, summers the situation there aggravates. The niff emanating from the spot make their lives all the more difficult than it already is.

“Some shopkeepers have dumped old cars near the entrance. It has become the spot for the party of drug addicts,” he points out, before revealing more, “The nearby vegetable market also dispose off throw their trash in the bin located at the site which lures the stray dogs and cows from the closely located gaushala.”

The placing of garbage dump near an educational institute also depicts the unprofessional and unthoughtful behaviour of the MC. It clearly hints that there was no thought process behind selecting the spaces for putting up these large garbage bins – at least here. There are roughly 18 wards in the walled city where there is no door to door lifting of waste. Therefore, there are designated places where these large bins are placed.

“It should never be installed in residential areas especially near educational institutes as it becomes a major health hazard for those living nearby,” says Anil Vinayak, a former banker. He goes on: “The civic authorities should do a proper survey in selecting spaces keeping in mind the health of the people.”

Though civic authorities have their own logics, but the situation is pathetic for the inhabitants. Similarly, a bin was placed in the densely populated Bambay Wala Khuh and Katra Moti Ram area in the past. There are two schools in the vicinity besides a Suwidha Centre. If not for the agitation by the people, it would have never been shifted from there.