Cuttack, June 23: Residents of Rajendra Nagar here have taken up brooms to protest against the civic body’s inaction in keeping their area clean.

The residents of Rajendra Nagar, which falls in ward No. 48 of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation, alleged that the civic body had not cleaned their area in the last two weeks.

“Heaps of garbage is found lying on roadsides here as the sanitary staff of the corporation do not lift these on a regular basis. Our miseries grow by leaps and bounds when the dumped garbage reaches our doorsteps being carried by rainwater every monsoon,” said Lalatendu Mohapatra, 45, a local resident.

The residents also alleged that the civic body did not provide adequate number of dustbins to the area for proper garbage disposal.

The corporation has allegedly installed only 14 dustbins at Rajendra Nagar.

“We do not have any faith in the civic body’s sanitation measures anymore,” said a local resident.

He added that it was decided that every youth of the locality would take up the task of cleaning the entire area once in a week.

Another local resident, Tapan Kishore Das, said that wastewater did not pass from their area as the corporation did not initiate any measure to desilt the choked drains.

He feared that Rajendra Nagar would be inundated for at least a few more times this monsoon.

The civic authorities, however, claimed that about 32 sweepers were engaged in daily collection and disposal of waste from Rajendra Nagar and its surrounding areas.

“I am aware of the problem caused by lack of dustbins there. The corporation is taking steps to resolve the issue,” said local councillor Soubhagini Jena.

The councillor blamed local kalyan mandaps and hotels for the heaps of garbage lying on roadsides.

“The kalyan mandaps and hotels throw their waste on the roads everyday. We are going to take strict action against them to keep the area clean,” she said.