Cleanliness drive in ‘smart city’ Faridabad goes down the drain

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, September 24

The dumping of garbage in the open before its final removal is on in majority of residential areas of the smart city, despite the ‘Swachhata Hi Sewa’ campaign being launched recently.

“The so-called VIPs or netas gather only at a point which is already clean or is being cleaned by the civic employees for a photo session,” claims Krishan Lal Gera, a resident of Sector 15- A. While heaps of garbage could be seen lying in nearly all sectors and colonies, the authorities concerned had failed to come up with any permanent solution of the problem, he added.

“With hardly any properly covered garbage point, even in the posh Sector 14 , 15 and Sector 16, garbage keeps spilling out on roads, making commuters suffer,” rued Baljit Singh, a resident of Sector 16.

The garbage collection and lifting work of the city was outsourced to a private company in December 2017. The city has a total of 493 collection points, where garbage from the households is dumped before shifting it to secondary collection centres. Of these, 127 dustbins made of concrete are half covered, while a total of 304 spots are still open. The city churns out 700 tonnes of waste daily.

Admitting that garbage was being dumped in the open at several points, CD Sharma, Chief Sanitary Inspector, Municipal Corporation Faridabad, said garbage collection and removal to the final dumping station had been outsourced to a private company, which had its staff and machinery on the job.