Dhanbad: Chas has failed to retain its swachh glory with mounds of garbage once again being dumped in the open, only two months after it was declared the "cleanest city in the state" and secured an all-India rank of 19 in Swachh Survekshan 2018 .
Piles of garbage are regularly being dumped near the ITI More and also on a forest land in front of the office of Chas Municipal Corporation on Purulia Road.
Besides, untreated sewage and drain water of Chas are openly discharged into river Garga.
Residents blame on the lackadaisical attitude of the district administration and Chas Municipal Corporation to secure a proper dumping ground and establish a garbage treatment plant in the town.
Besides, no agency has shown any interest in procuring the tender of solid waste management project worth Rs 30 crore, which includes door-to-door garbage collection from each house in all 35 wards and development of a landfill site.
"The garbage is being dumped from one place to another and sometimes even from one ward to another due to lack of a designated landfill site. Sometimes it's unbearable to tolerate the stench emanating from the garbage dumped near the newly developed park on NH-33," said Ward 13 councillor of Bokaro Vandana Sharma.
Echoing similar sentiments, Chas deputy mayor Avinash Kumar said, "How can anyone expect an agency to apply for the tender when the landfill site is yet to be acquired."
In 2015 Chas Municipal Corporation had identified 10 acres of land at Kalapatthar area to develop a garbage dumping site. However work had to be stalled following protests by several villagers who feared development of a dumping site would increase the risk of vector-borne diseases.
"We are exploring all possibilities and are in talks with the district administration to resolve the issue with Kalapatthar villagers," said chief executive officer of Chas Municipal Corporation Jagdish Prasad Yadav.
Bokaro deputy commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Baranwal said they would soon send a team to Kalapatthar. "We will interact with the villagers and clear all their doubts regarding development of the dumping site."
