1,000 dustbins installed in Palampur villages missing
Ravinder Sood
Palampur, November 2
Over 1,000 dustbins, installed under the Swachh Bharat Mission in rural areas of Palampur three years ago, have been stolen.
The blue and green plastic dustbins costing around Rs 900 each were placed near public buildings, government schools, panchayat bhawans, residential localities, bus stops and community halls to keep the district litter free.
These dustbins were supplied by the Union Government and were distributed to panchayats during special functions organised by MPs, MLAs and ministers. However, within three years, these have vanished from public places and today, there were no dustbins anywhere.
The panchayat pradhans of Palampur, Sulah and Jaisinghpur say that the bins were given to them by MLAs and MPs for installation at public places.
“But due to official bottlenecks, no responsibility of the panchayats or Block Development Officers (BDOs) was fixed for their upkeep and maintenance. Besides, there was no provision to empty these bins. Therefore, these turned into a health hazard. Since these were directly given by the MLAs and the MPs to panchayats, no entry was made in the stock registers of panchayats,” a pradhan says.
Later, in the absence of proper upkeep, 90 per cent bins, along with their steel platforms, were stolen. The MLAs were aware of the problem, but no steps were taken to safeguard them. The matter was not even reported to the police, they say.
Three BDOs of the region say that they had no role in the distribution or installation of these bins and there were no guidelines from the state government for their maintenance, repair or protection.
The bins were the properties of the panchayats and they should have maintained it, they add.
