Punjab stinks as sanitation staff strike completes a month

BATHINDA: For the last one month, residents of various municipal councils and municipal corporations of Punjab have been, almost, sitting on piles of garbage and breathing foul air as over 10,000 sanitation workers — regular, contractual and outsourced — have been on strike, demanding regular jobs and salary hikes.
The strike, which started on May 14, completed a month on Sunday. It has resulted in heaps of garbage raising a stink in most towns, with desperate residents resorting to burning it and leading to toxic emissions, which pollute the environment. It has also agitated the civic body officials, who have an added problem on their hands with the early arrival of the monsoon — the possibility of littered garbage entering sewerage lines and choking drainage.
Govt holding talks to solve the issue at earliest: Minister
We want the government to accept our demands, mainly regularising services of those on contract and pay hike. We have been working hard even during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the government is not ready to listen to us,” said Safai Karamchari Workers’ Union leader Khem Chand.
Sounding a note of caution, former municipal councillor Mahesh Kumar Lota in Barnala said, “Growing heaps of garbage may lead to another pandemic. The government must strike a deal with the striking employees at the earliest, before it causes any more loss to humans.”
Residents of Bathinda, Faridkot, Muktsar, Mansa and Baghapurana have already started complaining about garbage in marketplaces and streets making their lives miserable. “Foul smell emanating from garbage is creating hellish conditions in markets. The cattle keep sitting on garbage dumps, which is aggravating the situation,” complained a resident.
Local government department director Puneet Goyal said, “There are 12 demands of the striking employees and most can be accepted. However, the demand for regularisation of contractual and outsourcing employees is a big problem and is being looked into by a cabinet sub-committee comprising five ministers. The cabinet committee is holding the talks.”
Local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra on Sunday said the government is holding talks and trying to solve the issue at the earliest.