Even after repeated complaints by the local residents about the abysmal condition of door to door garbage collection service, the problem in the city is still the same. The service which was supposed to be expanded in the newly added 40 wards is not even working properly in the old 60 wards under Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD).
Expressing anguish over the poor state of the garbage collection system in the city, Vaishali Pandey, a resident from Kumhar Mandi, said, “The door to door collection was regular in the beginning, but over the past four to five months, things have crumbled down. The garbage collection van remains invisible. When the garbage van used to come in the area the residents rushed out and dumped their garbage into it. Now, the people are dumping garbage on the streets which is making our surroundings dirty. Besides, the vacant plots near our houses are turning into new garbage points, adding further to our woe. ”
Another resident from Sayyed Mohalla on Chakrata Road Chandra Kanta Sharma echoed the same and said, “The door to door garbage collection van was seen for the last time a long time ago. Now, they are proving elusive.
In the past, the sanitation workers took away the garbage when the vans were not working, but now they are not being seen. Consequently, garbage is piling over garbage. As it stinks we sometimes clean things. But it is not possible every day. We are impatiently looking forward to the resumption of the service.”
Queried over the problem and the worsening plight of the people, the chief municipal health officer Dr Kailash Joshi said, “We are well aware of the problem. The door to door collection system is mostly non-functional. We are awaiting the cancellation date of the tender given to the company concerned which is in March. If the company fails to give the required services by then their tender would be cancelled and a new company would be assigned with the task.”
Notably, MCD had given the task of door to door garbage collection to Chennai municipal solid waste private limited (CMSWPL) in September last. As per the agreement, the door to door garbage collection would be twice a day.
It has been four months since the agreement was signed and the service is eluding the people of the city.