Waste from drain chokes roads, poses health risks

Ranchi: The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) began its annual exercise of cleaning the city’s drains to prevent waterlogging on roads and bylanes during monsoon a couple of weeks ago. With it, another chronic issue of hygiene has returned to inconvenience the residents.
A sizeable chunk of the RMC’s 3,000-member strong contractual workforce of sanitation workers have been cleaning the city’s drains. While excavators are being deployed to clean drains adjacent to the arterial roads, the smaller drains, which run through the bylanes, are being cleaned manually by shovels.
The sanitation workers are clearing the drains and dumping the sludge by the roadside in the open. The stench from the waste is making lives miserable for the commuters and residents as they step out of their homes for work and commute.
On Tuesday, the sludge dumped on the side of the roads turned into a puddle after a heavy bout of rain lashed the city. Plastic waste, rotten leaves and even waste discharged by eateries and sweet shops flowed on the roads.
“Waste water is constantly leaking from a drain and accumulating on the side of the road. There is an intolerable stench and mosquitoes are breeding. We can barely sit and do business,” said Savita Devi, a roadside fruit seller said.
“We have to cover our noses while going and coming to work. It has become an annual affair during the monsoon,” Rabindra Majhi, a shopkeeper, said.
“Cleaning of drains is necessary. But instead of dumping it by the roadside, the sanitation workers should take it away immediately. But they do not do that,” he added.
Rakesh Prasad, a resident at Chuna Bhatta locality in Kokar, claimed that the waste collected from drains are sometimes left on the road for days.
Kunwar Singh Pahan, the assistant municipal commissioner of RMC, said waste collected from the drains are supposed to be kept under the sun for a few hours to dry. “It is done to ensure that when the waste is transported in trucks to the Jhiri dumping, it does not trickle on the roads. However, if the waste is being left in the open for days, then this is a serious issue. We will get it rectified,” Pahan added.