Piles of waste dumped near Alipurduar market. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar, Aug. 9: The Alipurduar municipality has not been able to collect garbage for the last 40 days leading to piles of waste all over the town because of the absence of a dumping ground.

The 49-year-old municipality does not have a dumping ground of its own.

On July 30, two vehicles of the civic body carrying garbage were sent to Parorpar on the outskirts of the town but a group of local people protested and blocked the drivers from dumping waste there. They also snatched the keys of the tractors from them. In protest, the municipality decided not to collect garbage.

In Panialguri area, the municipality had bought a 24-bigha land for the project of solid waste management but villagers there, too, have raised objections. The SDO of Alipurduar sat with political leaders of the area to resolve the issue but the problem persisted as the pradhan herself failed to convince the villagers.

Swapan Bhaduri, the secretary of the Alipurduar Red Cross Society, said: “The way heaps of garbage are piling up in every corner of the town, an outbreak of disease can take place. Hospital waste is lying beside the road. It can cause a disease havoc in the town, particularly among children. The civic body and the administration should work jointly to solve the problem.”

Shyamal Kanti Das, a guardian who takes his son to school through the road adjacent to the Alipurduar daily market, said the area is the worst affected. “Everyday many guardians like me take children to school on two wheelers through this road and when we reach the market it is really tough to breathe. Many children start vomiting as the area has become so unhygienic. Nobody bothers about the problems faced by local people.”

Dipto Chatterjee, the chairman of the Alipurduar municipality, said: “It is true that huge quantities of garbage are found in the town and anytime an outbreak can take place but our hands are tied. In the last one month we have sent at least five tractors to dispose of the waste but our staff is always harassed and the tractors blocked.

“Police had to go to the spot and get the tractors out of the place. In every place, people protest. The administration has to handle the matter strongly. If the problem can be solved in Jalpaiguri within two days, then why not in Alipurduar.”

Chatterjee said: “We are still in search of a place to dump the garbage and then our staff will work round the clock to clear the town but because there is no place we have stopped collecting the garbage.”

Amal Kanti Roy, the SDO of Alipurduar, said: “We are trying our best to arrange a temporary place where the garbage can be disposed of temporarily. We are also trying to arrange for a permanent site.”