Jamshedpur: It has been almost a month since the maiden executive wing of the Adityapur Municipal Corporation came into being, but disposal of solid waste - a persistent problem in this industrial township - hasn't got any better.

In fact, it has arguably worsened. Earlier, garbage was dumped in a vacant government plot along Road 32 near Kharkai, not far from residential neighbourhoods. Now, it is not just dumped along many roads, but also set on fire, triggering both an olfactory challenge and air pollution in thickly populated areas.

"When the erstwhile municipal council collected garbage door-to-door, but did precious little for their disposal, we were under the impression that the system would improve once it was upgraded into a corporation. Unfortunately, things have become bad to worse. The smoke is robbing us of clean air. Many are suffering from respiratory distress," said Suryadev Prasad, a resident of Adityapur Colony.

Krishna Karua, a social activist, couldn't agree more. "It is peak summer and maximum temperatures are not always comforting. Amid this Celsius onslaught, the corporation suddenly decides to burn garbage. Imagine the pollution it is causing. We are breathing more carbon monoxide than oxygen," he said.

During the 2011 Census, Adityapur had a population of 1.80 lakh. The current figure is roughly 2.5 lakh. The township generates five truckloads of trash daily. These are dumped along Adityapur Colony, Majhitola, S-Type, Adityapur thana road, Hari Om Nagar and Imlee Chowk, among others.

A corporation insider maintained that the plot of land used earlier to dump garbage had been declared out of bounds since April 18, when the civic poll results were announced. "Municipal employees nowadays just choose a random, convenient place along the road, unload the trash and set it on fire," he said.

The executive wing of the corporation, responsible for solid waste management, is headed by mayor Vinod Srivastava who assumed office on May 2. He admitted that garbage was being dumped along some roads, but denied that they were being burnt.

"We may be dumping garbage here and there until a new arrangement is made. We are not setting the mounds on fire. That must be the handiwork of local hoodlums," he claimed.

The mayor went on to say that a 15-acre government plot at Gopinathpur in Kandra, 15km from Adityapur town, had been set aside for a dumping site.

"We have floated a tender for construction of a boundary wall. Once the wall is up, we will start dumping municipal garbage there," Srivastava said, indicating that the inconveniences being faced by Adityapur residents would end in another two months.