75% locals for garbage collection; LMC decides after corporators uproar

Lucknow: The House meeting of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) on Wednesday decided that the agencies hired for garbage collection in the city will be directed to hire at least 75% local sanitation workers for garbage collection in the city.The decision was taken following an uproar by the corporators over irregular garbage collection and poor sanitation in the city for the past several days because most of the workers recruited by the agencies come from Assam and West Bengal.In the past few weeks, these workers took leaves to cast votes in the assembly elections, because of which the door-to-door garbage collection was significantly hit.Demanding action against private agencies handling waste management, the corporators disrupted the House meeting several times, following which officials, including the municipal health officer and environmental engineer, along with representatives of the agencies, were called to explain the situation.Corporators cited shortage of sanitation workers, non-functional vehicles and weak monitoring as major reasons behind the crisis. Many alleged that ground conditions did not match official reports submitted by agencies.Mayor Sushma Kharkwal has asked the officials to submit a detailed report on sanitation operations and corrective steps taken so far, emphasising accountability and time-bound action.