Delhi Stinks of Filth as Municipal Corporation Workers Fight for Salary Dues

Capital generates 8,500 MT of garbage daily, of which 3,000 MT have been piled up on streets of east and north Delhi so far.
Delhi Stinks of Filth as Municipal Corporation Workers Fight for Salary Dues

NEW DELHI: While the three municipal corporations and the Delhi government are locked in a filthy power struggle, the capital is, for the third time, in a trash crisis. “Is this the smart city our future generations are going to get?” asks Vanya Jay Singh, a resident of Mayur Vihar Phase II, as she navigates through a pile of filth outside her colony gate on her way to work in an embassy. “There’s no one to clean the streets, roads or public parks. Even the dumping areas are overflowing, making them ideal spots for breeding disease.”

■Capital generates 8,500 MT of garbage daily, of which 3,000 MT have been piled up on streets of east and north Delhi so far.

■ AAP govt claims Rs 2,200 crore has been released. Corporations argue the full amount of Rs 1,322 crore is yet to reach workers.

■ 70,000-odd sanitation workers have been on strike since last four days over non-payment of salary dues

■ Nearly 700 people have died of dengue and cholera in last five years in Delhi

As many as 70,000-odd MCD sanitation workers have been on strike since last four days over non-payment of salary dues. The AAP government claims the entire amount of around Rs 2,200 crore has been released. The corporations argue the full amount of Rs 1,322 crore is yet to reach workers. They allege the state is delaying the implementation of the Fourth Finance Commission report, which was tabled in the Assembly and accepted. If applied retrospectively, it would bring the dues to civic body employees up to `6,176 crore since 2013.

“We will call off work for an indefinite period until our demands are met,” Sanjay Gehlot, president of Delhi Mazdoor Vikas Sanyukta Morcha, said.

Apart from traffic jams causing increasing pollution, the massive mounds of garbage, which are rising in size day by day, threaten to unleash a host of gastro-enterological diseases like cholera, typhoid and jaundice. These are also breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which are the chief carriers of dengue and malaria virus. Nearly 700 people have died of dengue and cholera in the last five years in Delhi.

“A spurt in epidemics is likely,” says a senior MCD health official.

The capital generates 8,500 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage daily. Around 3,000 MT have been dumped on the streets of east and north Delhi so far.

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