Ranjit Avenue dumping row: Amritsar Improvement Trust begins clearing plots

A day after Congress leader Anil Joshi announced a protest over waste dumping in the Ranjit Avenue area, the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) swung into action. Chairman Karamjit Singh Rintu visited the site and assured residents that all vacant AIT land would be cleared and fenced to prevent further dumping.

Rintu, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party’s in-charge for the North Assembly constituency, said the AIT would not allow garbage or construction debris to accumulate on any of its plots in Blocks D, C, and E of Ranjit Avenue. He said recent disruptions in the municipal corporation’s door-to-door waste collection system had led to dumping on AIT-owned land, but tenders for removal had already been finalised.

He added that the awarded tenders had now matured, allowing the AIT to begin rapid clearance of garbage from all affected locations. “Some miscreants even set fire to the waste, causing smoke and inconvenience to residents. Unfortunately, certain individuals attempted to play dirty politics over this,” Rintu said.

The Chairman said he had held joint meetings with officials of the AIT and the municipal corporation to resolve the issue. A tender worth nearly Rs 45 lakh has been executed to expedite waste removal, he added, noting that all vacant AIT plots would be fully cleared in the coming days.

Rintu further stated that the civic body had allotted a new contract for door-to-door garbage collection. The agency would deploy vehicles and equipment shortly, ensuring sanitation issues do not recur. He appealed to residents of the North Assembly constituency to contact him directly for any sanitation-related concerns.

To prevent future dumping, the AIT has also initiated tenders for fencing its vacant plots. Rintu said the land parcels in Ranjit Avenue would soon be fenced and gated. Machinery belonging to the municipal corporation that had been lying idle on AIT land had also been flagged for removal and would be shifted soon.