KANPUR: Unclean roads as
well as garbage lying unattended at dumping yards and brimming over from
dustbins have become a common sight in the industrial city these days.
With less than a fortnight left for Holi, the city is reeling under
extreme insanitation as several metric tonnes of garbage rots in wake of
the tussle between A2Z and Kanpur Municipal Corporation.

The
impact of the absence of regular workers and garbage clearance system
can be seen in areas like Bakarganj, Yashoda Nagar, Shyam Nagar, and
Jajmau to name few. Also bearing the brunt of the mismanagement of
municipal corporation and A2Z are Kakadeo, Lajpat Nagar and Ashok Nagar.

The dumping yards made near GT Road (from Zareeb Chauki to Coca Cola
Chauraha) have made commuting difficult for locals. “We are already
reeling under the effect of faulty planning of civic authorities with
respect to underground sewage pipelines. Potholes and open manholes make
it difficult to move safely on city roads. Now, A2Z and KMCs
mismanagement in garbage clearance has made things worse,” said Rohit Sharma, a resident of Lajpat Nagar.

Krati Singh, another local from Anandpuri said, “It is pathetic that we
have to watch garbage lying unattended in front of our houses. The
authorities are least bothered about the woes of the public.”

It is important to mention here that A2Z workers stopped door-to-door
garbage collection in the city three weeks ago. After receiving several
complaints, the authorities of Kanpur Municipal Corporation
started collecting and shifting garbage from dumping yards. However,
KMC workers are also not able to collect all the garbage from the city
as they have few vans and other infrastructure required for the same.

“The city generates nearly 1200 metric tonnes of garbage every day
while KMC is collecting only 700 to 750 metric tonnes. As 400 tonnes of
garbage is getting accumulated every day for the past three weeks,
presently, the city has 6000 extra tons of garbage lying around. Lifting
this before Holi is a nightmare,” said a KMC official.

He added that A2Z authorities have not backed out officially but
expressed their inability to accomplish the task. As this burden is now
with KMC, it is facing a loss of Rs 1.25 lakh everyday while using its
own diesel and workers in lifting garbage from dumping yards.

When TOI contacted Municipal Commissioner NKS Chauhan to seek his
explanation on A2Z’s halting of services, the official said, “In view of
the absence of regular A2Z workers from duty, we have pressed into
service contract workers to take care of cleaning of roads and
collection of garbage in the city.”

He said A2Z has stopped
collecting garbage door-to-door and from dumping yards, but is recycling
the same at the garbage treatment plant. “We will be a holding a
meeting with A2Z authorities to discuss the grievances of locals.
Hopefully, something positive result will come out of the meeting,”
Chauhan said.