Chhapra, Aug. 2: There seems to be no respite for the residents from the perennial problems of garbage strewn on the streets and waterlogging. Even the desilting is hardly of any use.

Shop owners at Sahebganj are upset over the way of functioning of Chhapra Nagar Parishad.

Raj Kumar, who runs a readymade garments shop, and Arman, an optical shop owner, rued that the employees of the parishad overturn the drain slabs, dump the garbage on the road and leave. If they are told to remove the silt and put the slabs over the drains, they demand Rs 100 or Rs 200.

Sources told The Telegraph desilting does not serve the purpose as the silt pours back into the drains whenever there is rainfall.

The worst affected places are near Khanwa Nala and Sarkari Bazaar where vegetables and fruits are thrown on the roads, leading to garbage heaps. This causes traffic snarls, adding to the woes of passersby.

Khanwa Nala, the main outlet to drain out water from the town, has been encroached upon at several places. The district magistrate, Vinay Kumar, had ordered to demolish the encroachments and constructions alongside it but nothing has been done as yet.

Sources said the desilting work was started in June, which should have been initiated in April so that the rains would not have played spoilsport in civic work.

On the other hand, the parishad is funds-starved. Even the administration of the parishad is not stable, as six executive officers have been changed in the past six months. The chairperson of the parishad, Sandhya Devi, said the body was facing employee crunch and financial restraints.

Sources pointed out that earlier there were more than 100 employees in the civic body but now it has come down to 58.

They added that the parishad also has 54 more employees on a daily wage basis.

“We are trying our best with whatever resources we have,” Sandhya added.

The sources said all the 44 trolleys used for lifting garbage were defunct. Of the two payloaders, one is defunct. To compound the woes, employees go on frequent strikes owing to salary problems.

Sources said the employees have not been paid their salary for 30 months and added that holding tax to the tune of Rs 1 crore was due.

The amount of fixation of bus stand, taxi stand during 2006-2007, which was to the tune of Rs 3.3 crore was not handed over to the parishad by the then district magistrate K.P. Sah.

Sources said the state government had not provided funds to Chhapra Nagar Parishad. Earlier, it used to give 70 per cent of the amount and the rest was to be managed by the parishad through its own resources. Sources added that the problem of waterlogging would be solved if the encroachment on Khanwa Nala were removed.