PUNE: Garbage piled up in 13 wards of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation on Tuesday due to a flash strike by volunteers of Solid Waste Collection and Handling (SWaCH), is expected to be cleared by Thursday.

RB Chavan, health and medical officer at the civic body said that the SWaCH volunteers have resumed garbage collection in all the wards of zone Aand 80 per cent of garbage is expected to be cleared by Wednesday while the rest will be cleared on Thursday. Chavan said, "SWaCH has been allotted the contract for door to door garbage collection in zone A and D. They collect the garbage and dump it at fixed spots from where the civic employees lift it and transport it to the Moshi garbage depot."

The SWaCH volunteers abruptly stopped work in zone A on Tuesday due to internal problems and resumed the work only in the afternoon. Sakina Bahora, chief executive officer, SWaCH Co-operative Society, Pune said, "The flash strike happened because action was taken against one worker for indiscipline. He, along with other workers, stopped work due to which garbage clearance work was affected. The dispute has been solved and the work resumed today."

Raju Misal, NCP corporator said, "SWaCH has been allotted the contract for door-to-door garbage collection in 25 wards of zone A. The residents of all these wards were affected due to non-clearance of garbage on Tuesday morning. Later the work resumed but could not be completed in many wards causing hardship to the public."

He said that this was the second time in the past one month that SWaCH workers went on a sudden strike. The civic body does not have any alternative arrangement for collecting garbage. "We have demanded that the contract with SWaCH be cancelled. The other problem with

SWaCH is that they do not collect garden waste like dried leaves, flowers and branches which is collected and piled up by municipal workers on the roadsides. This problem is noticed in the Pradhikaran areas where there are bungalows with gardens. The municipal commissioner has provided a truck to collect the garden waste for the entire zone which is proving inadequate," Misal said.

Independent corporator Maruti Bhapkar said, "Garbage bins were overflowing in my Mohannagar ward in Chinchwad on Tuesday due to the SWaCH strike. I met municipal commissioner Ashish Sharma and pointed out that the garbage is not lifted regularly in five wards - 37 to 41 - as the compactor develops regular problems. Sharma inspected the ward at night and ordered the health department to clear the garbage. So garbage clearance was done till late in the night." Shiv Sena corporator Sulabha Ubale said, "Garbage is not lifted by SWaCH volunteers regularly from my ward in Nigdi. Garbage was not lifted in the ward on Tuesday due to the strike. The work resumed today but is not expected to be completed. I have also demanded that the contract of SWaCH be cancelled."