Under-stretches of city flyovers need cleaning

Avneet Kaur

Jalandhar, January 22

Looking around the city, especially under the stretches of the flyovers which are accumulated with piles of garbage, the mission of the Municipal Corporation Jalandhar (MCJ) for a Swachh City seems to be in doldrums and difficult to achieve as roads remain littered with plastic waste, fallen leaves, wrappers, empty bottles and animal excreta.

Meanwhile, the MCJ is soon going to release orders worth Rs 967 crore to carry out major development works in the city under the smart city project which will include budget for the much-controversial and awaited solid waste management too, but the absence of a dedicated garbage collection service by the civic body shows the plight of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and what can prove to be a hurdle in this project too.

Further, with a soaring population of over 10 lakh residing in more than 80 wards, the city still has to witness adequate measures as per the smart city project in many areas. Although the civic body has installed over 500 roadside bins on major roads and also placed other e-bins at sensitive littering points, several dumping areas in the city along with the stretches under the Pathankot bypass, Maqsudan, flyover intersection near Chugguti Chowk and the stretch leading to the GNDU road as well under the stretch of the Damoria flyover languish under pitiable sanitary conditions and are in dire need of sustainable solutions for the collection of tonnes of waste.

“These stretches are full of dump piles which are not picked for ages. Also, these create problems for commuters to cross by as they need to cover their faces due to dust and foul smell,” said Archana, a student of Apeejay College.

Apart from this, residents also complained that vegetable, fruit vendors standing near these flyover stretches and garbage dealers collecting waste from all major hotels and restaurants dump garbage here and at the vacant plots nearby, to be segregated later by rag pickers. “These stretches too have become a den for mosquitoes and other insects,” said another resident Kamlesh Singh.

MCJ health officer Dr SriKishan Sharma said, “There had been a vast improvement and the flyover stretch at Lamma Pind Chowk has been completely cleared. We are working on cleaning other stretches too. Also, the smart city project budget for the solid waste management has been allocated and we will come up with latest technology which will help us get rid of the garbage issues.”

We had also assigned officials to keep an eye on sensitive areas where heaps of garbage pile up and people at late night, throw waste material of their hotels and other places at these points. Strict action is being taken against all those found littering public places and roads, he added.