Bhubaneswar: The conservancy lanes across the city remain a suitable dumping yard for local residents even the civic body has taken up a plan to overall maintenance and cleanliness of those stretches.

Conservancy lanes are the space between rows of houses, which can be found almost everywhere in the city, especially where the government quarters are located. The lanes are meant for smooth passage of cesspool vehicle, fire engines, ambulance and other such utility vehicles.

"If the lanes are cleaned and maintained properly, no one will dare to make it a dumping yard. There were no proper dumping place in our area which forces us to dump the waste on the lanes," said Unit-III resident Dip Chand.

Looking at the ill maintenance of the lanes and complaints by the residents and local councillors, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has decided to clean those and plant saplings there. They had cleaned several such lanes at Unit-I, Unit-II and Unit-III, but the work stopped abruptly after a few months.

"A number of sanitation workers came to our area few months ago and cleaned the lanes and also cut the creepers those grown wild there. The practice had been maintained for a few months, but now it again came back to where it was. It was nothing but a sheer failure of the civic body to left the lanes in such a manner," said Unit-II resident Surasmita Thakur.

A few councillors raised the issue at the council meeting last month.

"After several requests, it was decided to clean the lanes. The sanitation workers came and cleaned the lanes in my area, but due to erratic cleaning, those went back to its previous condition. I have informed the House about it," said councillor Naren Sahoo.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said most of the conservancy lanes were located in wards where the sanitation was being maintained by our private agencies.

"We have directed the agencies to resume the cleanliness work or face a cut in their fees. I will personally look and visit the areas from where the complaints are coming," said Jena.

Urban planner Sumeet Jena said the conservancy lanes ate up the additional space, and it was not at all necessary for a modern city. "Based on decades old infrastructure model, the lanes are designed. It was important to leave such space for utility services, but it is absolutely unnecessary now and at a time when it is not serving any purpose. These lanes should be abolished," said Jena.