Chandigarh MC starts lifting garbage, protesting collectors warn to block its vehicles

With the municipal corporation on Monday deploying tractor-trailers and rehris to lift garbage that has been piling up across the city in the past five days, the protesting independent waste collectors shifted their dharna from the MC office in Sector 17 to the dumping ground in Dadumajra in the evening to stop the entry of civic body’s vehicles.

The garbage collectors have been protesting the MC’s decision to take over their work. Even as the MC House decided to provide jobs on contract to the 1,447 registered waste collectors, the latter have been claiming that it’s not enough as more than 5,000 people are engaged in the work.

MC vehicles started picking up garbage lying on the roadside in several sectors in the morning. In the afternoon, the vehicles event went from door to door in three sectors — 8, 19 and 22 — to collect the household garbage as an interim measure.

Councillors were busy since the morning sending messages to residents to drop their waste at the secondary collection points.

Mayor Davesh Moudgil said the MC has deployed its own resources, but he is hopeful the deadlock would break soon.

He said the decision to take control of waste collection was taken in the best interest of the city. “Moreover we are not rendering waste collectors jobless. We will be enrolling them. I appeal to them to support us in making the city number 1 in sanitation,” he said.

Dharna moves to dumping ground

However, waste collectors were in no mood to budge.

By 9pm, more than 400 of them reached the Dadumajra dumping ground and processing plant. They said they won’t let any MC vehicle dispose of the waste till the decision is rolled back.

Even MC sanitation workers had come out in their support on Sunday and announced a protest for Tuesday. They plan to keep away from work and stop MC vehicles.

Meanwhile, police has been deployed at the spot to prevent any untoward incident.

Earlier in the day, additional commissioner Saurabh Mishra addressed the protestors outside the MC office, informing them about contractual jobs. He said it was their chance to get direct employment with the MC rather than working under contractors.

However, Jai Krishan Dulla, president of Chandigarh door-to-door waste collectors’ union, said: “The MC is offering jobs to only a few people. More than 5,000 people will become jobless with the MC’s decision.”

First Published: Sep 18, 2018 09:59 IST