Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 3

In what shows the extent of inconvenience to the residents due to waste collection charges, about 400 complaints have been received in three days from three Sectors during a special camp held at the Sector 27 Community Centre here.

According to area councillor Devinder Singh Babla, around 200 complaints of overcharging were received from Sector 27, 75-80 from Sector 28, and 100 from Sector 30.

The camp is being held from 10 am to 12 noon.

“It is due to the BJP-ruled MC that the people are facing this problem. Seeing the plight of people, I organised this camp and in three days around 400 complaints have been received from three sectors in my ward,” said Babla.

“The MC has issued faulty bills and is overcharging the people,” said the Leader of Opposition in the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation.

“Officials should tell people why they are issuing bills without any notification about the charges being collected on the per kitchen basis. No councillor has knowledge about the rates,” said Babla.

He claimed that people who were living in 195-yard area had been charged Rs 100 for waste collection, while those living in 198-yard area were charged double the amount.

Some even complained that though they own a three-storey house and had no tenants, still they were charged for all the three floors. Others complained that they were not charged according to the rates decided by the MC.

Somila Singh Sandhu, vice-president of the Resident Welfare Association, Sector 27, said: “Can you imagine, people have received bills up to Rs 8,000 for garbage collection. I got Rs 4,000 bill for waste collection. People are fed up with the current system. They were happy with carts and did not want garbage collection through vehicles.”

“Almost every house has a problem. In Sector 27-A and B, there are number of senior citizens, the MC forcing them to take rounds of the office even as a third wave of the Covid pandemic is anticipated,” Sandhu added.

Baljinder Singh Bittu, chairman, FOSWAC, said: “Since the time the MC introduced its two-bin vehicles to replace the traditional rehirs, people have been facing issues.”

“Till recently, both rehris and vehicles were visiting houses in Sector 21 to collect garbage. For the last three days, nobody is coming to pick the waste. It is stinking. People are troubled with all this,” said Bittu.

In the waste charges added to the water bills for the first time, the MC did not mention the duration for which a recipient was being charged. Neither did it mention the rates as per which they had been charged.

When contacted, Dr Amrit Pal Warring, Medical Officer of Health, MC, said: “We are receiving around 10 to 15 complaints every day and are resolving them on the spot. Whether we get them through emails, phone or letters.”

“In this bill, even arrears have been added. From the next month’s billing cycle, there should be no issue. However, for those with any concern about the garbage collection charges, we are here to resolve them,” said Dr Warring.