At the Umarkote Municipality’s local Self-Government Day function here on Tuesday, Minister Ramesh Majhi was chief guest and local MlA Subash Gond guest of honour.
Though it was observed with much gaiety by the officials of the municipality but cleanliness drive in the town is allegedly nothing more than 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. Though the municipality privatized the sanitation service a year ago there has been no change in the town’s civic condition. Reports reveal that the municipality spends Rs 7.30 lakh per month for sanitation, but it seems only in pen and paper. The municipal authorities have never conducted any surprise check to bring the contractors to book. The organic dumps not only attract flies but also turn into a breeding ground for mosquitoes. The drains and the surrounding area adjacent to Gulipatna, Sontosi Nagar, Old Bus Stand and Bhanja Chowk are only a few examples of poor sanitation of the civic body.
Crores of rupees have gone down the drain in the name of improving civic facilities and development, residents alleged. Most roads in the town have developed cracks and potholes within six months of being renovated. A major portion of the town has no streetlights as a result, people feel unsafe after dusk. There is a public perception that all the grants that come from the Ministry of Urban Development Department of both the State and the Centre under sanitation and urbanization development programme to the municipality should be released only after high power teams inspect sanitation of different wards including functionality of drains , said many intellectuals here.