Every year, in the city wherever the pandals are constructed, the place becomes a dumping ground during puja. Denizens dispose of food and other items on the road. Since Durga Puja got over on October 22, it is now an uphill task for Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) to restore cleanliness of the city.
Citing details about the measures for cleanliness taken by the civic body, Deputy Mayor Sanjiv Vijaywargia said on Friday, “There are 125 pandals in the city and we have already deployed 245 workers to maintain cleanliness. Apart from this we have also coordinated with the puja pandals committee members to help in cleaning the areas. Guideline was also issued to the pandal members to maintain cleanliness during the puja. As many as 500 dustbins have been placed at various pandals to prevent waste disposal on the road."
"There are approximately 40 big pandals, so we have deployed workers accordingly. 6-8 labourers are deployed almost in every puja pandal to pick up the waste from in and around the puja pandal premises," Vijaywargia further added.
Moreover, giving details about waste disposal, which is collected from various puja pandals, Vijaywargia said, "Presently we do not have any proper system of segregating waste material, so whatever is collected is dumped at Jhiri, a dumping yard. labourers do not separate the waste at the time of assortment. Currently, we do not have proper waste management system."
Durga puja organisers are also lending helping hand to RMC to maintain cleanliness in the city. Rahul Agarwal, Secretary of Navyuvak Durga Puja Samiti, Bakri Bazar said, "The committee members have arranged bins and deployed labourers to keep the surroundings clean. We have deployed our own 10 to 12 labourers, they have been instructed to collect the waste material from the pandal and dump at one demarcated place and the waste collected are further cleaned up by the RMC labourers."
On the other hand, ward councilors are also keeping an eye on maintaining cleanliness in their respective wards. "Total 21 workers from RMC are working in the ward and the work will be completed by October 25. The cleanliness drive will continue till the upcoming Chhath puja," said Ward Councillor Basanti lakra.
However, the Deputy Mayor has confirmed that the entire city will be cleaned up within next 3-4 days keeping in mind the upcoming festivals.
Apart from this labourers involved in waste material collections have been given proper equipments in order to keep them away from the deadly diseases. "We have provided the labourers with boots, jackets, masks and gloves so that they can be protected from getting infected while collecting the waste materials," said PRO of RMC, Naresh Kumar Sinha.