It has been one month since the Pallavapuram Municipality began door-to-door garbage collection.
While a section of residents are glad about the civic action, activists in the neighbourhood are unhappy that it has been implemented without serving a prior notice to people.
Speaking about the move, David Manohar, an activist in the neighbourhood, says, “It has been around five weeks since the trash bins across the streets have been removed and the conservancy workers are actively engaged in collecting the waste from every house.”
Pointing out the problem, he states, “The workers do not collect the waste from households at a fixed time. This makes working people discard garbage on the road. Either they do it while leaving in the morning or after 10 pm. The Municipality must set timings and create awareness about this.”
The residents who complain that the road is littered in the night, say that they were not informed about the change regarding waste collection.
Sathiesh, a resident of Vaishnava College Road, terms the workers irregular. “When we inform officials, as an immediate measure, they clean up the area. On any given day, you can find the tricycle amid the pile of trash,” he complains.
It has been learnt that the local body allegedly does not pay the contractor on a monthly basis, resulting in irregular garbage collection.
“The workers are paid a paltry sum. If it is not paid on time, how would they work with sincerity?” questions David. He further adds that the Municipality has not taken enough measures to create awareness about solid waste management.
Meanwhile, it is also unclear if the previous contract with the outsourced agency is completed, how many vehicles have been purchased for this move and if the escalation of price as demanded by the waste management firm, has been met.
Calls made by ‘News Today‘ to the Municipality went unanswered.