Waste generated from Chhatra Bazaar dumped on Mahtab Road in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, March 5: The civic body is yet to streamline solid waste management in Mahtab Road, Chhatra Bazaar and Shankarpur areas.

Inordinate delay in clearance of garbage, particularly from Chhatra Bazaar Road, is causing severe inconvenience to the residents of Mahtab Road and Shankarpur.

“Huge piles of garbage generated from Chhatra Bazaar is regularly dumped on the roadside here. The civic body takes about three to four days to clear the waste,” said Saswat Nayak, a local resident.

Nayak said the entire road at the entrance of the Chhatra Bazaar, which is the city’s largest daily market, remains choked as bulk of the waste was dumped on one side of the road.

Besides, waste is also dumped alongside of Taladanda canal, posing a serious environmental threat, as a lot of people still use water from the canal for drinking purpose.

“We face a lot of difficulties as the civic body’s sanitary staff do not clear the waste regularly,” said Subrat Swain, another local resident.

Swain said that not only Chhatra Bazaar, but most other areas of the city are also suffering from poor sanitation measures because of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation’s lack of initiative to streamline solid waste management.

The civic body had made an agreement with Ramky Enviro Engineers Limited for collection and disposal of solid waste from most wards in the city. However, things are yet to improve even though more than 200 sanitary staff are engaged in solid waste management.

Traders of Chhatra Bazaar alleged that despite several complaints, the civic body had not taken any steps for speedy disposal of solid waste generated from the daily market.

“The traders are forced to dump garbage on the roadside because of absence of garbage bins. We are helpless as the civic body is yet to initiate measures for maintaining all-round sanitation in the market,” said Kailash Das, a trader.

A corporation official, on the other hand, claimed that adequate steps had already been taken for speedy disposal of waste from various parts of the city.

“As the new council has recently been elected, a review will shortly be done on how to improve the overall sanitation measures. Besides, special emphasis will be given on solid waste clearance from Chhatra Bazaar and other prominent commercial centres,” said mayor Anita Behera.