Zirakpur stinks as sanitation staff strike enters third day

Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, December 1

Heaps of garbage lay strewn at several places in Zirakpur as a strike by sanitation workers entered its third day today. The protesting workers dumped a tractor load of garbage outside the main gate of the MC office and did not allow its removal by a JCB machine.

Unbearable stench and unhygienic conditions are prevailing as the garbage collectors went on strike in support of their demands.

For the past three days, garbage is not being collected from public places. Trucks have been parked inside the MC office and the main gate of the complex is locked.

Residents said the situation was very bad and MC officials should find a way out of the mess.

Sanitation workers’ union president Pradip Sood said, “The MC’s condition of seeking Punjab domicile from sanitation workers is unjust. Most workers come from the Panchkula side, so they cannot furnish documents. Some employees are working for the past 15 years but their jobs have not been regularised. Their record too was gutted in a fire in the building. They are being penalised for no fault of theirs. They should also be regularised as some of the outsourced employees were unduly favoured.”