The Times of India             20.09.2010

 PANCHKULA: The primary reason why open spaces, parks and vacant plots have turned into dumping zones is the absence of garbage bins and poor door-to-door collection.

While MC has failed miserably to place enough bins, even private garbage collectors do not take their job seriously, turning up irregularly for door-t-door collection.

To solve the problem of inadequate number of garbage bins, residents had also demanded that Haryana Urban Development Authority ( HUDA) and Panchkula municipal corporation should decide and earmark 4-6 such appropriate places in each sector where garbage could be thrown.

These places were to have 6ft-8ft walls on all sides to avoid littering facilitating proper further disposal, but nothing has moved on the project.

Darban Singh, a resident of Sector 12, said that MC should start lifting garbage from each house with the help of their respective sanitation-contractor of the area on cycle-rehries. He added that residents had already been paying the requisite nominal amount to private garbage-collection persons, which may now be collected by the corporation.

Rakesh Dhiman, a resident of Sector 20, said the MC should penalize private garbage collectors for not being regular about dumping waste improperly. "The municipal corporation should challan these persons and also deal strictly with private contractors," he added.

MS Negi, a resident of Sector 23, complained that garbage collection vehicles do not come on regular basis. "Authorities should keep a check on the drivers of these garbage collection vehicles to ensure proper disposal of waste," he added.

When contacted, OP Sihag, executive officer of Panchkula MC, said that they have recently put 52 new bins in and around the entire city, which would solve the problem to an extent. 'Besides this, we have also decided to put GPS systems on garbage collection vehicles to monitor their activity," he added.