The situation of waste disposal and garbage collection in Jalandhar is getting worse with each passing day. Jalandhar has now become a city of garbage dumps as there is no vehicle to collect it from the sites. Municipal Corporation has a fixed set of fines for violating rules like dumping garbage on roads, mismanagement of garbage, etc, but this time is not able to find a solution for the collection of garbage from dumping grounds so that the city does not witness heaps of garbage at every corner.
Reportedly, there is non-availability of garbage collecting vehicles, the vehicles that are present, there is no availability of diesel to run them and due to all this, the collection of waste in the city has stopped. According to the information received from the sources, files of payment of 1.25 crores to the contractors of the vehicles are also pending. Municipal Corporation was served with the notice to clear the payments by 10th October 2022, but as it has failed to do so, the contractors have refused to provide the service.
This year, Municipal Corporation was at 154th position in the ranking related to cleanliness after which the Union Ministry of Urban Development gave a grant to the city in order to improve sanitation systems. A meeting was also conducted by the commissioner with the health department to issue a fixed amount of fine for garbage disposal.
The corporation took a contract for 24 tractor-trolleys so that there is a proper collection of waste from the sites. Now, the matter of fact is that payment for these contractors is also pending for the last 6 months, so the work by them has also stopped from September. Pending payments by the corporation have left around 100 employees in a salary crisis.
The problem has increased as the machine required to pick up the garbage in the city has also got destroyed leaving the garbage uncollected at the dumping site. Pits were made to make compost from waste, but due to a lack of machines and personnel, it is closed.
Now, as per the latest information tender for 2 JCBs and 4 tippers will get open on October 26 for regular garbage lifting from 20 dump sites.