Policemen inspect a pile of garbage at Saraiyaganj in Muzaffarpur on Wednesday. Picture by Gopi Raman

The district police on Wednesday lodged an FIR against Nidan, an agency engaged in sanitation and cleanliness work under Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation (MMC) for three years, for not properly carrying out its civic assignments.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajesh Kumar said Nidan’s negligence was “criminal” and “it has turned the city into a hell”.

The city has turned into a stinking place over the past two days after intermittent rainfall. “Nidan has failed to clean up the garbage,” he said.

The SSP told The Telegraph that he had directed the station house officer (SHO) of Town police station to lodge an FIR against the civic agency under sections 290, 337, 338, 431 and 34 of the IPC.

“It has become very difficult to move on the road. The garbage at every corner of the city has also resulted in severe traffic congestion. The waste materials have been lying unattended for the past fortnight. There is no one to look after the work of the municipal corporation. Things have become very difficult,” he said.

SHO J.N. Mandal formed a team of police officers who visited the city and took a video clipping of the garbage after which the FIR was lodged.

Newly elected MMC mayor Varsha Singh, along with her deputy Majid Hussain, reviewed the functioning of Nidan on Wednesday afternoon and directed the project manger Arvind Singh of Nidan to clean up the city.

Nidan officials, however, said the lodging of the FIR was unfair. “It is an unjustified move. In the past two months, we faced problems in carrying out the work as we were shortstaffed. But this does not mean that legal action would be initiated against us,” Pramod Kumar Singh, manager, Muzaffarpur circle of Nidan, said.