Three agencies — Jagruti, Ramky and PMR — work with the municipal corporation to keep the city clean. While Jagruti takes care of sanitation in 28 wards, Ramky and PMR’s share is 15 and 14 wards, respectively. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) manages the job in the remaining 10 wards. The workers of Jagruti went on cease work on January 20 demanding hike in salary, safety and security. The Telegraph on Tuesday visited a few places to analyse the situation

Mayor’s residence

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena’s official residence at Unit-II, is a key location in Bhubaneswar. With Jagruti workers going on strike, sanitation services in the area have taken a hit. “It is a sheer joke that the area where the city’s first resident lives is stinking. I don’t know how he feels, but for us unclean environment is unbearable,” said shopkeeper Indranil Mohanty.

Unit-I Market building

One of the most visited markets of the city, this area needs regular sweeping and cleaning. The strike has made things worse. “The market building draws outsiders in large numbers and requires proper maintenance. The garbage now occupies a big part of the market and is not a good advertisement for a city that aspires to be smart,” said garment seller Jayant.

BMC headquarters

The strike has not spared the BMC headquarters of stink. Jagruti workers have stopped clearing garbage and sweeping the area that houses the BMC head office. “The waste bins outside the office is overflowing with garbage and the stink is unbearable. It is tough making our way past the office building,” said tea shop owner Pritam Hota.

SUDA Office

A few meters away from the BMC headquarters is the office of the State Urban Development Authority (Suda) at Goutam Nagar. This office is venue to a number of officials meetings and conferences of various urban local bodies. “Due to irregular cleaning since the past few days, garbage has piled up right in front of this office. If things continue in this manner, it will not give a good impression to visiting officials of other urban local bodies about the city,” said an official of Suda.

Lingaraj Temple

One of the city’s major tourist destinations, the 11th century temple attracts devotees from various parts of the country on a daily basis. “Garbage lies almost everywhere in the periphery of the temple. Wastes have choked the drains that are now overflowing. The civic body should have a back-up plan to handle a situation like cease work by the cleaning staff,” said Jagannath Ratha, a resident of Tankapani Road.

Authority speaks

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said that the crisis happened as sanitation employees of Jagruti had raised certain demands. “On receiving complaints, we called a meeting late Monday night and asked the Jagruti coordinator to resolve the issue. We had been assured that work would resume on Tuesday. If that has not happened we would take appropriate action against the agency,” Jena said.

Text by Sandeep Mishra, Pictures by Ashwinee Pati