Month after cleanliness drive, city’s garbage problem back to square one

Dehradun: Barely a

month

has passed since a special cleaning

drive

was held ahead of the Investors Summit in the city

after

Uttarakhand high court (HC) directed civic authorities

to

clean up Dehradun on a war footing. However, even as barely a few days are left for Diwali, heaps of

garbage

are lying unattended in several places.

Dehradun Municipal Corporation’s move to outsource door-to-door garbage collection is yet to commence in most areas and many streets can be seen littered with trash.

Residents say that though civic authorities have installed garbage bins in many main streets, they still remain inaccessible.

“Many people are dumping waste in the open and that’s why, certain places like Laxmi road, Ajaypur near Haridwar bypass, and Natraj near Chakrata road are reeking of garbage,” said Renu Yadav, a resident of Dalanwala.

She added that this not only leads to unhygienic conditions, but also adds to health complications for many stray animals who feed on garbage.

Ashu Arora, founder of Doon Animal Welfare, said that garbage dumps which are not cleaned regularly are a big hazard for animals. “We rescue two to three street dogs daily who get ill after eating trash, as many unused medicines, polythene, thermocol sheets etc are thrown there,” Arora said.

Many also blame the locals for the mess. “People just dump garbage on the road after the collection bins are removed. This openly encourages others to throw trash wherever they want,” said Nitesh Behl, a resident of Karanpur.

Meanwhile, officials of the municipal corporation say that they are going through a staff crunch and though workers continue to clean the city, any special drive will only be conducted after the elections are done.

“Although we are conducting routine cleaning in the city, but because of the upcoming elections, we do not have enough staff and therefore cannot conduct any special drives,” said municipal commissioner Vijay Kumar Jogdande.


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