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| Sewage dumped on a road in Saheed Nagar and severed branches left on a road in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati and Telegraph picture |
Bhubaneswar, Oct. 11: The municipal corporation is seeing red over the dumping of green garbage and construction material at inappropriate places by various government organisations.
The municipal commissioner has written to the department concerned to remove wastes dumped by the public works department (PWD), Odisha Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu).
Sources in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation said these organisations leave a large amounts of green garbage and construction debris on the road and the civic body has to transport the waste at its own expense.
“We have to make nearly 20 tractor trips to dump such waste and this costs us nearly Rs 10,000 extra everyday. The corporation cannot afford to spend Rs 3 lakh a month for garbage generated by other government agencies,” said municipal commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra.
The PWD dumps dug-out material and construction debris, the sewerage board leaves excavated muck on the roads.
The green garbage is generated mainly by Cesu authorities, who undertake routine drives to cut off tall trees and branches jutting out dangerously to prevent them from coming in contact with overhead electric wires.
This waste is left unattended on the city roads for the BMC to do the cleaning.
The councillors also feel that the authorities concerned should lift the garbage they generate.
“The corporation is responsible for clearing garbage generated by the residents. We are not responsible for lifting the garbage generated by other government organisations,” said councillor of ward No. 49 Amaresh Jena.
The garbage left unattended on roads is not only a headache for the civic authorities, but also affects commuters in a big way by obstructing the flow of traffic.
Sometimes, residents have to clean it themselves or make rounds of the departments responsible for creating the mess to get the job done.
“When we approach the authorities concerned, they tell us to go to the corporation office and when we approach the civic authorities, they pass the buck to government organisations,” said Sudhir Behera, a resident of Bhimatangi.
In February, the corporation had penalised those dumping construction material on the roads. But this has now stopped.
The Odisha Municipal Corporation Act empowers civic authorities to punish encroachers and impose fines under sections 343 and 344. The civic authorities can slap penalties for dumping construction material or filth on roads and discharging sewage onto them.
“If the civic body can impose fine on the residents, why can’t they do the same with government organisations?” said Bibhudatta Rout, a resident of Patia.