Garbage piles up in Doraha as sanitary staff continue strike

Lovleen Bains
Doraha, May 21

In what could lead to a health hazard, mounds of garbage continue to pile up in Doraha as sanitation workers’ protest against the non-fulfilment of their demand of regularisation of services entered ninth day today.

One of the protesters said, “Subsequent governments have failed to address our demand. We have spent years picking garbage without any benefits in return. Even the existing government gave assurances but to no avail. We have not got our due despite working as frontline workers amid the Covid crisis.”

“There is a total indifference on the part of the government for sanitary workers. No one can understand the kind of risk we expose ourselves to, when we lift garbage and all kinds of waste at a time when hygiene, cleanliness and sanitation is given top priority worldwide,” he added.

Vishnu Dutt Sharma, state president, Chief Sanitary Inspectors and Sanitary Inspectors Union of Municipal Councils of Punjab, said sanitary inspectors, sanitary workers and safai karamcharis have always been on the forefront to give a tough fight to the virus by engaging in regular cleanliness and sanitisation drives.

“We have been doing our duty sincerely even when we know that it can prove fatal for us. Without adequate monetary support and medical assistance, we are helpless. If any of us gets infected, we have no means to pay for the medical expenses,” he said.

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