Not only the air quality plunged to a severe low, the national Capital’s streets too are stinking of garbage. With disgruntled sanitation workers on strike demanding due payment of their salaries and arrears, it seems Delhi is preparing for another round of politics over garbage.
Among other things, municipal solid waste management in the national Capital has gone down the drain. With 65,000 sanitation workers, 1,500 dhalaos, 500 trucks and thousands of auto-dippers, the three civic agencies have miserably failed to improve sanitation services.
Poor monitoring of garbage lifting by private agencies, unavailability of landfill sites and excessive delay in completing solid waste management plants have cost Delhi dearly. While the daily waste generation is increasing manifolds by the day, municipal corporations have not been able to chalk out a strategy to deal with the daily dumps.
“All the promises that were made by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and municipal agencies were false and baseless. We were not given a single penny even after Kejriwal said they will transfer money to MCDs. We have been protesting for the last 100 days as safai karamcharis were not given their due salaries. The commissioners have also raised their hands saying they do not have money to pay the dues. Now we have called out a strike and it will continue till our demands are met,” said Rajender Mewati, president of safai karamchari union.
A few weeks ago, sanitation workers of all 12 zones under the banner of ‘United Front of MCD workers’ stopped collecting garbage from their respective areas and cleaning streets, demanding immediate release of their salaries along with fulfilment of other promises. The workers claim their salaries have not been paid since August and there is uncertainty over other demands too.
There are total 57,000 safai karamcharis, who have been demanding timely payment of due salaries, release of arrears, regularisation of contractual workers, and issuance of medical cards. A sanitation worker, who had not been paid arrears since February 2014, committed suicide in South Delhi two months back.
Harsh Malhotra, Mayor of EDMC, said as per DMC Act 484 (1) sub section (iv), the Government shall appoint a Director of local bodies to assist the Government and discharge functions including: to resolve the functional and administrative anomalies or difficulties arising, if any, after constitution of the three corporations in consultation with the Commissioner(s) thereof. Ravinder Gupta, Mayor of NMC, said that instead of creating confusion in the mind of public by spending Rs536 crore on advertisement and misleading the people.