Chandigarh: Stray animals are ravaging the garbage collection point in Sector 40-D, causing a major concern to the sanitation workers.
The dumping ground where three dumpsters are placed on the edge of a slip road parallel to the Chandigarh-Mohali dividing road is raided regularly by stray cows, buffaloes, and dogs. They have started feeding even on the heaps of toxic plastic waste. "Sometimes in the middle of the day, a herd of four-five cows or buffaloes scatter the garbage while eating from the dumpster and we have to clean up afterwards," said Ahmed, a safai karamchari. "We barely manage to collect all the garbage from the neighbourhood and put into the dumpster when these animals scatter it all over again."
A cattle herd on the loose was spotted grazing in the small jungle. A pack of dogs was also feeding on the garbage. The safai karamcharis are sacred of the herds and packs all the times, as the animals are known to charge at them. The workers don't have the tools to shoo them away. "This has been happening for almost two weeks," said another sanitation worker.
The stray cattle are believed to belong to Maloya, a semi-urban village beyond Sector 39. The herds may even be from the parts of Mohali across the road.
