Misery piles up again for East Delhi residents

NEW DELHI: East Delhi colonies are yet again battling a sanitation nightmare as safai karamcharis have gone on an indefinite strike demanding timely payment of salaries and disbursal of claims like medical allowance.

East Delhi Municipal Corporation

(

EDMC

), which has been facing a financial crisis, has requested Delhi government to clear the arrears under the Delhi Fourth Finance Commission recommendations.

The worst-affected areas include Geeta Colony, Shakarpur, Laxmi Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Vishwas Nagar, Patparganj and Pandav Nagar.

BS Vohra,

RWA

president of East Delhi Residents Joint Front, said that both the government and the civic body have failed to check the frequent strikes. “Every area is teeming with garbage and the condition is really bad. The government should immediately take steps to ensure that the problem is solved permanently,” he added.

The leader of the safai karamchari union, Sanjay

Gahlot

, on Thursday held a dharna outside deputy

CM

Manish Sisodia’s office along with other sanitation workers holding a banner “Abki bar, aakhri bar” demanding release of funds. “We are forced to go on indefinite strike as the government and the corporation have turned deaf to our demands. Our salaries are delayed every couple of months. It has become difficult for us to run our households,” he added.

Gahlot said the strike will not be called off this time until their demands are met. “We feel ashamed about going on strike as people have to suffer due to accumulation of garbage. However, if the authorities had cleared out dues, we wouldn’t have been forced to take such drastic steps,” he added.

EDMC mayor Bipin Bihari Singh lashed out at the government for not releasing funds despite Delhi high court orders. The three corporations combined require around Rs 7,000 crore to pay salaries and pension to their employees. The three mayors claim that Delhi government owes them around Rs 9,000 crore.

“East Corporation is already facing a major financial crisis. CM Arvind Kejriwal is politicising the issue and trying to ensure that the BJP-ruled corporations stop functioning. We appeal to the sanitation workers to end their strike and resume work. We will continue to fight for their rights with the government,” Singh said.