The Hindu       07.03.2011

Garbage piles up on city roads

With the sanitary workers strike entering the sixth day on Sunday, heaps of garbage got piled up across the city. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation , despite all its contingency plans, could clear only 300 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage.

More than half the workforce has not been turning up for duty.

The contingency plans seem to have not been successful as nearly 250 MT of garbage was left uncollected. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) could clear about 130 dumper bins in the city as against a total of 400 dumper bins.

The strike is being spearheaded by the CITU-affiliated Municipal Corporation Workers' Union.

The garbage on connecting roads, arterial and internal roads could not be cleared. It was glaringly evident in areas like Maruti Nagar abutting Eluru Road.

The city generates nearly 550 MT of garbage daily.

The six main demands of the union include regularisation of services of workers serving on a contract basis, approval of Rs. 6,700 as minimum wage, grant of 15 days casual leave, issue of identity cards, coverage under insurance scheme and talks between union leaders and Regional Director at regular interval to keep the higher-ups abreast of the problems.