The Hindu : Sanitation network lies in tatters

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 24, 2002

Other States

Other States - New Delhi

Sanitation network lies in tatters

By Our Staff Reporter

FOR THE CAUSE OF POLLUTION: All rules go up in smoke along with the plastic waste being burnt near the Naraina flyover in Delhi on Friday. - Photo: Sandeep Saxena

NEW DELHI AUG. 23. Large-scale absenteeism on the part of safai karamcharis and a shortage of trucks to transport waste from colonies to sanitary land sites, along with financial constraints, have affected the state of cleanliness in the Capital.

Badly stinking garbage kept on roadside or lying idle at a dhalao for months together, safai karamcharis not cleaning up their assigned area for weeks, endangering public health, has become the norm of the day in the Capital now.

A large number of cleanliness drives being launched by the VVIPs at regular intervals amid media glare are no more than a cosmetic exercise. Similarly, the number of studies by prestigious organisations followed by their recommendations are gathering dust at Town Hall, as neither Municipal Corporation of Delhi nor the Delhi Government has money to make investment in a sector which is essential for the health of its citizens.

The Capital is estimated to generate about 8,000 tonnes of garbage every day. Even if the exaggerated official records are to be believed, 5,550 to 6,000 metric tonnes reach sanitary landfill sites, thus creating a shortfall of 1,500 to 2,000 tonnes daily. They keep on piling in one part of the Capital or other, causing health hazard to the nearby residents.

Pathetic sanitary conditions in the Capital can be gauged from the fact that the MCD has a skeletal fleet of just 693 trucks to shift garbage from the dhalaos to sanitary landfill sites. Of these not more than 300 are on the roads at any given point of time. The last batch of 100 new trucks was purchased some four years ago. "The rest have outlived the average lifespan of seven years,'' officials conceded.

As per a latest study carried out by an expert in the Solid Waste Management from the Japan International Cooperation Agency associated with Urban Development Department of Delhi Government, the city requires a minimum of 2,000 fleets for garbage removal.

Similarly a study carried out by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) reveals that the civic body requires to add at least 150 trucks per annum to its existing fleet. It had also recommended an annual budget of Rs. 350 crores for Sanitary Department of the MCD. Instead, it is getting about Rs. 90 crores per annum. At the same time, MCD has been forced to dispense with about 40 such vehicles having Haryana number following an order from Department of Transport.

Senior officials of the MCD Sanitary Department concede that not more than 50 per cent of the 46,000 safai karamcharis come on duty daily. "Absenteeism is on a mass level. There is a deep nexus between the safai karamcharis, local politicians and officials,'' said the official. In fact, over the years this nexus has come to be known as "Lahori System'' in their parlance, under which the safai karamchari shares his salary with the mid-level official of the department.

Further, the MCD is not responsible for removing garbage from unauthorised colonies and slum clusters, where nearly one-fourth of Delhiites stay. As an exception, the MCD trucks visit these colonies only once in a while, once in a month. "Situation is very pathetic in these colonies. It is only a miracle that we are not having any epidemic in these parts of the Capital,'' he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

Stories in this Section

DPSC underdrawal may cause grid collapse

Sanitation network lies in tatters

Bizarre twists to a simple case

Pragati's friend fails to visit Crime Branch

Bharadwaj is ABVP candidate

Decks cleared for Srinivaspuri flyover

Flood control rooms set up