Garbage heaps pile up in Sonepat, protesters burn minister's effigy

Sonepat, October 28

The ongoing strike by sanitation workers has led to the piling up of garbage at various places in the city. The situation is worsening by the day.

Notably, the sanitation workers have been on strike since October 19 to press for the fulfilment of their demands across the state. On Friday, they burnt an effigy of ULB Minister Kamal Gupta at Subhash Chowk in the city. The employees took out a march from the MC office to Subhash Chowk raising anti-government slogans.

Heaps of garbage can be seen on almost all roads. The foul smell emanating from these garbage heaps has made people’s life miserable.

According to sources, around 200-tonne garbage is generated in the city daily. Heaps of garbage can be seen at Dayal Chowk, bus stand chowk, old DC road, Sector 14, Shani temple, vegetable market and other areas in the city.

“The MC failed to maintain proper cleanliness in the city even on Diwali. The city looks like a big dump yard,” said Dharambir, a city resident.

Chief Sanitation Inspector Sahab Singh admitted that the strike had hit management of cleanliness in the city. Some employees on strike obstructed sweeping and garbage lifting by private workers in some areas, he said. “We have 339 employees of which 96 are permanent and 243 are on Palika rolls. Around 150 workers are on strike,” he said.

“Cleanliness tenders have been allotted to two companies after dividing the city in two zones. They have over 800 employees and we are trying to maintain cleanliness with their help,” he said.

XEN Rajesh Kaushik claimed the situation in the city was almost normal as tenders for sanitation work were allotted to private companies. “We have not received even one complaint regarding non-lifting of garbage in the city,” he claimed. The salary of outsourced employees was released today, he added.