Residents protest MC’s failure to remove waste from roadside

Fatehgarh Sahib, April 23

Residents of Sirhind today protested and raised slogans against the Punjab Government and Municipal Council (MC) for their failure to remove heaps of garbage piled up on one of the main roads. Residents led by Gurwinder Singh Sohi, president of NGO Jago, gathered at the garbage site and held a demonstration.

Addressing the media, Sohi said despite repeated requests to council officials, the garbage was still being dumped on both sides of the main road connecting the old and new Sirhind town. He said the passersby have to face great inconvenience as it not only emanates foul smell, but also causes pollution after being burnt. He said the garbage has been dumped on the main road and the people and schoolchildren have to pass through the smelly pile of garbage daily. This may lead to diseases, he said. Sohi said the situation becomes worse after rainfalls.

He said the residents had been repeatedly requesting and submitting memorandums to the council as well as higher officials, but to no avail. He said during the Shaheedi Jor Mela they had started an indefinite dharna at the site and the administration had assured them of removal of the garbage within a few days. But no action has been taken yet, he said, adding that it had now forced them to stage a protest.

The residents demanded that the pile of garbage be removed immediately. They also demanded that the waste be dumped at some other place. MC president Ashok Sood said he was aware of the problem and appropriate measures were being taken to remove the garbage soon.