City a festering mess as MC fails to install compactors at selected sites

Ludhiana: Besides garbage not being collected in segregated form from households, it is also not being properly processed at secondary garbage collection points, which lack compactors. Despite floating tenders repeatedly, no compactors have been installed at selected sites. With no clarity on when officials will have the equipment in place, heaps of garbage are piling up at secondary points.
In June 2022, the city-level technical committee of Ludhiana Smart City Limited gave the nod for a request for proposal to purchase compactor machines for 22 secondary garbage collection points. Earlier, its detailed project report also took a long time to get clearance. Since machinery has not arrived, garbage is being dumped in the open.
An official requesting anonymity said, “There is no delay at our end as we had floated tenders earlier also but since no one responded, we have floated tenders again. We hope to get a response this time.”
Some of the proposed sites for compactors include Peeru Banda, Karabara Basti near petrol pump, near GT Road Saroop Nagar, behind dental CMC College, books market, civil hospital, Field Ganj, Mundian Kalan, Mushtaq Ganj, old courts, bus stand flyover etc.
Superintending engineer, bridges and road department Sanjay Kanwar said, “I have recently received charge of handling the tendering process for compactors and will be able to comment after going through the documents in detail.” IIllegal dumps can be seen at several places in the city, which generates 1,100 tons of garbage from households every day. Garbage is piling up at vacant plots, near national highways and on roadsides. Stray cattle can be seen grazing on the dumps but authorities are not getting them shifted, causing inconvenience to the general public in the form of mosquitoes, flies and foul smell.
The MC, with the help of LIT and Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (Glada), got compactors installed at a few locations but even these require checks, especially at Jawahar Nagar camp. Here, garbage is often seen dumped on the roadside because too much of it is being transported here. The first compactor near Dugri bridge has outlived its usefulness.