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Public Health / Sanitation

Upper castes pose problem for sanitation in BMC

Monday, 27 July 2009 09:25 administrator
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The Hindu 27.07.2009

Upper castes pose problem for sanitation in BMC

Staff Reporter

BERHAMPUR: Upper castes do not feel shy to get appointed as sweepers but they usually shy away from doing the job.

In Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) the upper caste persons appointed as sweepers are a major hindrance in the maintenance of sanitation in the city, alleged the ‘Mahanagar Mehentar Karmachari Sangh (MMKS)’. It is the union of sanitary workers appointed by the BMC either on regular or temporary basis. On Sunday the members of the union held a rally and meeting to protest against proposed privatisation of sanitary work in 10 wards of the BMC.

The adviser of the Anil Nayak said at present there were over 700 sanitary workers with the BMC. They included the regular as well as the temporary ones. But out of them, over 150 temporary sanitary workers happened to be upper castes like Brahmin, Karan etc.

He alleged that these upper caste persons were not ready to wield brooms and clean roads and drains although they were appointed for it as they felt it was the work of lower castes. The union leaders alleged that these upper caste sweepers were getting paid without doing the work for which they were appointed.

The municipal officials said the appointment of upper castes for the post of sweepers did not violate any appointment norms as the no appointments are made on caste basis.

Meanwhile, the sanitary workers of the BMC on Sunday decided to oppose the privatisation of cleaning in the city.

TThey alleged that despite several requests the BMC chairperson and Commissioner were not calling them up for discussions. In their meeting they decided to hand over a 14 days notice to the BMC authorities on July 29, if the BMC authorities did not call them up for discussion over the privatisation issue till then. “We would start democratic agitation,” they said.

According to sources cleaning of 10 wards of the city is to be privatised from July 30. It is being opposed by the sanitary workers of the BMC.

Last Updated on Monday, 27 July 2009 09:56
 

Waste disposal begins as Lalur residents relent

Saturday, 25 July 2009 06:30 administrator
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The Hindu 25.07.2009

Waste disposal begins as Lalur residents relent

Staff Reporter

Garbage piled up across the city will be cleared by Saturday: Deputy Mayor

— PHOTO: K.K. Najeeb

Vexed issue: Sanitation workers remove garbage from Chembottil Lane in Thrissur on Friday.

Thrissur: Garbage disposal in the city resumed on Friday, after a gap of 10 days, as residents of Lalur, where the Thrissur Corporation’s garbage yard is located, relented in their fight against dumping waste in their midst.

Lalur residents protested and opposed the dumping of wastes when the stinking waste water and leachate seeped into their houses and contaminated water sources. The contaminated water bodies around the trenching ground posed health hazard to the 40-odd families in the neighbourhoods.

An emergency meeting of the Lalur Malineekarana Virudha Samara Samithy on Friday morning decided to call off the opposition as the corporation considered their demands favourably and initiated steps to solve the problem.

“We are temporarily withdrawing our protest considering the hardships faced by people in the city,” said T.K. Vasu, chairman of the Samithy. What the corporation had done now was just a temporary measure and serious studies and discussions should be carried on to find a permanent solution, he pointed out.

Deputy Mayor M. Vijayan said that the garbage piled up across the city would be cleared by Saturday. “The corporation’s sanitation workers and Kudumbasree units are working fulltime to clear the waste,” he said.

District Collector V.K. Baby had on Wednesday given direction to the Secretary of the Thrissur Corporation to safely dispose stagnant waste water at the Lalur trenching ground and nearby areas within three days.

A technical team comprising Director of the Clean Kerala Mission Ajaykumar Varma and Environmental Engineer of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board T. Chitra Kumari studied the problems in Lalur and recommended immediate measures to ensure public health and safety.

“A concrete protection wall has been built inside the compound wall of the dump yard to prevent the seeping of waste waster from the dumped waste. Trenches are dug up to collect the waste water,” the Deputy Mayor said.

Meanwhile, health officials have warned of a possibility of epidemic outbreak in the city, considering the amount of pollution that the garbage piled up for the last 10 days had brought to water bodies.

“The health department has a hard task ahead,” District Medical Officer V. Divakaran said.

The corporation had been accused of ignoring the warning of the Health Department about the impending threat due to the unscientifically dumped waste at Lalur, especially during monsoon.

Even though the corporation was instructed by the Kerala State Pollution Control Board for urgent preventive and remedial action, the instructions were not fully complied with, a report of the technical team pointed out.

The Collector had asked the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project Manager to issue legal notice to Ramky Enviro Engineers, Hyderabad, for delaying implementation of Engineered Land Fill (ELF) at Lalur dump yard.

Timely implementation of the ELF would have avoided the present situation, he said. The ELF project was supposed to be completed in September but had not started yet. The Collector said that delay was a serious contract violation by the company.

Last Updated on Saturday, 25 July 2009 06:31
 

Closure of dump yard brings relief

Saturday, 25 July 2009 05:59 administrator
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The Hindu 25.07.2009

Closure of dump yard brings relief

M. Srinivas

Dumping of garbage stopped following instructions from Chief Minister

Photo: G. Krishnaswamy

Appalling: Fathullaguda dumping yard that posed health problems for residents of the surrounding colonies. —

HYDERABAD: Residents of Fathullaguda near L.B. Nagar can literally breathe easy now. For a change there won’t be the all-pervading stench that used to envelope the area on account of a garbage dump. From Friday, authorities have stopped dumping garbage at Fathullaguda following instructions from none other than Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

The garbage dumping facility had posed an insurmountable problem for the residents of the surrounding ten colonies including Jaipuri Colony, Indraprastha Colony, Shivshankara Colony and Ketana avenue, as heaps of garbage, foul smell, thick plumes of smoke, stray dogs and strewn decomposed carcasses were a common sight.

Every day, more than 200 trucks used to dump 400 tonnes of garbage generated in the surrounding Uppal, L.B. Nagar and Gaddi Annaram areas at Fathullaguda in a 44-acre government land.

Alarmed over the decreasing quality of life, the residents had petitioned the L.B. Nagar legislator D. Sudhir Reddy.

The positive development came during the recent visit of Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy to the area when the legislator convinced him to announce the shifting of garbage dump yard.

Spread of diseases

The garbage dump led to spread of diseases among residents, especially allergy and respiratory problems were on the rise because of the thick smoke enveloping the area throughout the day. The effect was so devastating that even the groundwater got polluted and had become unusable.

“We can now hope for better living conditions,” said a beaming B. Chakradhar Rao, Joint Secretary of Indraprastha Colony.

GHMC Additional Commissioner (Health and Sanitation) Aleem Basha said arrangements were being made to take the garbage to Jawaharnagar yard now.

Last Updated on Saturday, 25 July 2009 06:05
 
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