The garbage dump at Raja Subodh Mullick Square. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Life stinks. Literally, if you have the misfortune to live or work or commute anywhere close to the Creek Row vat bordering the Raja Subodh Mullick Square booster pumping station.

The stretch is a key connector for commuters wanting to hit the heart of town via Moulali. Just before the (now-shut) Hind cinema crossing, to the left, lurks the garbage dump. At almost any time of day or night, the vat is overflowing with enough garbage to make everyone around go sick in the stomach and stinking horrid enough to raise the dead. The reason for the putrid pile-up is simple: the civic authorities clear the vat once a day while the garbage is dumped round-the-clock.

The monstrous mountain of mess becomes unbearable in the monsoon months. As if the overflowing vat sharing a wall with the booster station of filtered water supply was not bad enough, the entire stretch is awash with garbage-littered water during the rains. When waterlogged, the rot from the vat (and that often includes carcasses of stray animals) drifts towards every residential and commercial doorstep in the vicinity.

A prime victim of the putrid point is the policeman on duty. “It is like a punishment posting. Others can cross this point quickly, but we have to stand here for hours. There is no specific time for the conservancy lorry to arrive and even after it clears the vat once, the garbage quickly starts piling up again. It is horrible,” cringed a sufferer from the Sealdah traffic guard.

Of the 50-odd large vats littering the town, the Raja Subodh Mullick Square is one of those bang in the middle of a densely-populated residential-cum-commercial area.

Can nothing be done about this stinking eyesore that is also a serious health hazard? Officials hold out little hope.

Councillorspeak

“I know this vat in my ward creates a lot of trouble for the local people. I receive so many complaints from them about mosquito menace and pollution. But the garbage from six wards — 47, 48, 50, 51, 52 and 53 — is dumped here. Besides, there are five markets in the locality and their trash also ends up in this vat,” rued ward 51 councillor Sanchita Mondal.

“The problem has become more acute with the CMC removing local vats from several wards. I know we cannot remove the vat from our ward, but if the other wards too have some small vats it would help us all. I have requested the corporation several times but to no avail. I have also raised the issue of conservancy workers not clearing the vat on time at borough meetings but…,” trailed off the Trinamul councillor.

Civicspeak

“It is true that this vat is used to dump garbage from other wards too, but there is no alternative at the moment. As for the vat not being cleaned on time, it might have happened once in a blue moon. Our staff is very efficient and we never get any complaints.... We have removed the small vats because it wasn’t helping in solving the problem. Calcutta is a densely populated city, so it not possible for us to find sites for vats so easily,” said Arun Sarkar, the chief engineer of conservancy.

Residentspeak

The litter pollutes the environment of the entire area. I had submitted a proposal on an underground garbage system to the CMC but I haven’t got a reply. It would be expensive but the city will benefit immensely. Many countries use this technology. Open vats are breeding grounds of mosquitoes too,” said Debasish Kumar, a resident of 7A Akrur Dutta Lane.

We live in front of this vat. The stench is unbearable. The footpath is littered with eateries, which makes it so unhygienic. If the CMC cannot shift the vat, it can at least clean it more often or shift those eateries out — Lopamutra Dhar, a Class VIII student of Lee Memorial Girl’s School near Lotus cinema.

We run a motor mechanic shop but due to the stench from the vat, customers don’t want to come here. And my colleague and I have been suffering from malaria for about a week. This is a regular feature during the rains — Santosh Shaw of 8 Raja Subodh Mullick Square.

I have been here since 1958 and I believe the problem lies in the volume of garbage being dumped in the vat. The number of vats in the area must be increased — Gora Banerjee, whose workshop is diagonally opposite the vat.

Do you face a similar problem in your locality? Tell northmetro@abpmail.com