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A civic worker cleans up an overflowing drain in Jharia on Sunday. (Gautam Dey)
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Dhanbad, Oct. 28: Blame it on lack of preparedness or simply half-hearted attempts, the much-touted cleanliness drive by Dhanbad Municipal Corporation staff failed to achieve its desired results in Jharia today, thanks to opposition from agitating sanitation workers of Mineral Area Development Authority (Mada).
Mada deputy chief executive officer Siddharth Shankar Chaudhary, however, refused to give up, saying that they would come better prepared tomorrow.
A team, headed by Chaudhary, reached the local office of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation in Jharia around 9 this morning. Councillor of ward No. 37 Anup Sao and Mada supervisor Umesh Singh, who is currently deputed at the municipal corporation, were also present with over two dozen workers, two earthmovers and three tractors.
So were Mada sanitation workers who have been on a strike for over 20 days, pending salaries being their main demand. They threatened the corporation employees against clearing accumulated garbage or cleaning overflowing drains. As a result, the civic brigade had to return after only cleaning Raja Talab.
Ganga Balmiki, general secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Safai Mazdoor Sangh, defended the strike. “If the government can pay workers of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation for cleaning Jharia, why can’t they meet out the same treatment to us? We are also ready to work. The government should issue a table order that it will clear salaries of at least five of the 20 pending months and we will join duty from tomorrow itself,” said Balmiki.
Chaudhary is bullish about resuming the cleanliness drive. “We will go back to Jharia tomorrow. If need be, we will seek help from police and the civic cleaners will work under the supervision of a magistrate,” he stressed.
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