The Umarkote Citizens’ Committee (UCC) held a Press meet on Saturday alleging poor sanitation drive by the municipality.
UCC president Markando Sahu alleged that the cleanliness drive in the town is nothing but an eyewash as no work has been done on ground. Garbage piling up on the roads and overflowing drains reflect the sorry state of affairs on the sanitation front in Umarkote.
The municipality spends around Rs 14 lakh per month for sanitation, but it seems only in pen and paper. The organic dumps not only attract flies but also turn into a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Crores of rupees have gone down the drain in the name of improving civic facilities and development as most roads in the town have developed cracks and potholes within six months of being renovated, Sahu alleged further.
Besides to add fuel to fire, the municipal authorities have failed to check the menace of stray cattle on roads, leading to regular traffic jams, especially during peak hours here. As if unauthorised encroachment of pedestrian walkways was not enough, the presence of stray cattle on the roads often poses a problem for commuters as there is hardly any road here that is free of stray cattle.
The problem gets compounded as the roads become slippery because of filth caused by these cattle. As there is no service in place to catch cattle or to clean the roads , there seems to be no end to the woes of the commuters, local denizens alleged. It is worth noting that, though people constructed latrines in their houses under the Swachh Bharat Mission, they have not received the funds from the civic authority despite several requests made to them in this regard. Notably, poor people are also unable to get the benefits under the Harish Chandra Yojana. The UCC demanded stringent action against the erring officials of the municipality and threatened to start an agitation if the problems are not resolved.