MC waste-lifting drive struggles to find its feet

Sandeep Rana
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 2

With most collectors not willing to work as drivers in waste-lifting vehicles of the Municipal Corporation, the civic body’s garbage segregation at source and collection campaign is struggling to find its feet.

Earlier, the MC had to limit its second phase launch to 12 southern sectors (Sector 31 to 38 and 46 to 48) rather than pan-city. Even in these sectors where the campaign was launched yesterday, carts are still picking waste at several places.

“No vehicle came today to lift garbage. However, private garbage collectors performed this job as usual,” said Kidar Nath Sharma, president, Residents’ Welfare Federation, Sector 46-D.

“Waste was picked through carts as usual. I have come to know that drivers working in MC vehicles deployed for collecting domestic waste went on a strike due to non-payment of their salary for the last month. The issue, it is learnt, now stands resolved and the vehicles will be on the job from tomorrow,” said JP Yadav, president, RWS, Sector 37-A. Similar was the feedback in Sector 35.

RS Kaura, president, RWA, Sector 32, said both private waste collectors and vehicles came separately to collect waste. Sunita Sharma, MC waste-lifting drive struggles to find its feet president, RWA, Sector 47, added that no vehicle came to collect waste and it was done by old private workers only.

Vinod Vashisht, convener, City Forum of Residents Welfare Organisations, said, “To avoid teething troubles, area councillors and area sanitary inspectors should interact with sector RWAs for day-to-day planning and dissemination of information.”

In the first phase launched in Sectors 1-30, a total of 97 wet and dry waste two-bin vehicles were deployed by the civic body. In the second phase, 70 more vehicles were pressed into service. The existing collectors were supposed to work as drivers and collectors in the MC vehicles. With most collectors not knowing driving and others not willing to work as drivers, the corporation had to hire drivers from outside. Now, about 240 more drivers are being hired through outsourcing in the middle of the second phase and ahead of the starting of the final phase.

MC Joint Commissioner Sorabh Arora, said, “Our vehicles are lifting waste. If there are some teething problems in some sectors, these will gradually be removed. We have already floated a tender to hire more drivers.”