Drivers & technical workers’ union protests, refuses to lift garbage

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, July 7

The Drivers and Technical Workers’ Union on Tuesday held a protest and refused to lift garbage. The members said that their demands have for long not been met. They complained that the vehicles were not in good condition and haven’t been used for a long time and no one was ready to look into the matter.

“The tyres of the vehicles are in poor state and require service at the earliest. The monsoon has arrived and the road leading to the Wariana dump is still unconstructed and the drivers have to stand and wait for three hours for their turn to dispose off the garbage there,” the members rued.

They also raised the issue of workers not receiving the salaries for last five months. However, the issue has earlier been raised in a meeting with the MC Commissioner and the Mayor but till now they have not been heedful.

Around two months ago, Mayor Jagdish Raja along with health and sanitation adhoc committee chairman Balraj Thakur, had held a surprise inspection of the sanitation works. While examining, Thakur had pointed out that the vehicles used to lift the trash were 15 years old and not fit to be used on roads. “They should be dealt with immediately and transport department must check this, because it is vulnerable to accidents,” he had then said. “Many vehicles don’t even have registration numbers. Because of heavy rush and one-way traffic towards Wariana, these vehicles take longer time to come back, so, there must be another way to lift more waste from the city,” Thakur had raised the issue.

Apart from this, in a letter to the MC Commissioner, he had written that the waste-lifting vehicles were without number plates and in dire need of repair.