Sanitation workers strike: Heaps of garbage on Ara, Gaya, Begusarai roads

PATNA: Many urban areas in Bihar are facing sanitation crisis owing to the ongoing strike of workers associated with different urban local bodies (ULBs). Streets in Gaya, Chhapra, Begusarai and Ara among others are strewn with garbage and threatening health problems.
The main gate of Ara Municipal Corporation remained blocked for the fifth consecutive day on Friday as the sanitation workers continued with their dharna under the banner of ‘Bihar Rajya Sthaniye Nikaye Karmchari Mahasangh’.Ara municipal commissioner Dheerendra Paswan held a talk with them on Thursday but failed to break the deadlock. Union convener Gopal Prasad said the strike will continue until their demands are met.
Piles of garbage could be seen at Shishmahal Chowk, Shivganj Mor, D T Road, Syndicate Mor, near Jain School and Mahila College in the town. Ravi Kumar, an SSC aspirant, near the Syndicate Mor said: “It’s disgusting. I have to go out many times for my tuition and coaching. The foul smell emanating from the garbage is unbearable.”
The sanitation workers’ strike has badly affected at least 22 out of 45 municipal wards of Ara. The sanitation work is also affected in other wards where permanent staff are engaged, as the garbage carrying vehicles are unable to come out due to the blockade at the main gate of the corporation building.
In Gaya, the agitating sanitation workers disrupted road traffic near Circuit House and blocked entry points to the corporation store and its parking area on Friday. Police intervened to get the road blockade cleared but the corporation store remained closed. Gaya municipal commissioner Sawan Kumar said a section of employees wanted to resume duty but they were prevented by others. There are 1710 sanitation workers on the Gaya Municipal Corporation (GMC) payrolls, but only about 200 are regular while the rest are on contract.
Meanwhile, fear of epidemic grips the city as municipal waste is littered along the roads. The situation is worse in the wholesale market of grains and vegetables. Gaya DM Abhishek Singh had served an ultimatum to the employees to resume work or face action. But the employees remained on strike and the deadline ended on Thursday evening.
The ongoing strike has turned Begusarai town into a veritable hell. The situation is worse in Mungeriganj, Main Road, Tilak Nagar and near south gate of the collectorate. As the garbage dumped on roads have started decomposing, residents of neighbouring areas are facing much discomfort due to the stench. “There is a threat of an epidemic, especially amid the ongoing Intermediate examination,” said the father of an Intermediate examinee on Friday.
However, residents of Chhapra heaved a sigh of relief as the sanitation workers resumed duty on Friday. Saran DM Subrat Kumar Sen said on Friday that door- to-door garbage collection started from main roads. Police resorted to lathicharge on Thursday when some striking employees tried to prevent lifting of garbage in front of Saran collectorate. Municipal commissioner Sanjai Upadhyaya had appealed to the striking employees to return to their duties. “Stern action will be taken against the striking employees, if they failed to resume duty,” he said.
However, Bihar Local bodies Employees’ Federation president Siya Ram Singh said the strike would continue till their demands of absorption were not fulfilled.
Meanwhile, the strike of sanitation workers was called off in Darbhanga on Thursday while there was no strike in Bhagalpur, Buxar, Nalanda, West Champaran, East Champaran, Khagaria and Araria among several other municipal areas.
(Inputs by Praveen in Ara, Abdul Qadir in Gaya, Rajiv Kumar in Begusarai and H K Verma in Chhapra)