BHUBANESWAR: Amid Durga Puja revelry, sanitation has gone for a toss near pandals across the Capital City owing to random dumping of waste and littering. With vendors flouting Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) two dustbin norm, garbage strewn all over has become a common sight near pandals across the city for the last three days.
Sources said close to 1,500 temporary stalls, kiosks, food vans and ice-cream carts have come up near 178 Durga Puja pandals here. However, a majority of the vendors are not following the sanitation and dustbin norms. In the absence of dustbins, waste generated from the temporary kiosks, stall and food carts are directly dumped on ground and kerbs.
Lack of enforcement too has given a free hand to the vendors to flout the norms and encourage revellers to litter near the pandals. The BMC has formed three special squads at Zonal Deputy Commissioner (ZDC) level to check whether sanitation norms are being properly followed near the pandals.
The enforcement by these squads, however, has remained virtually nil. This has also led to rampant use of banned single-use plastic and insoluble items by the vendors. Empty food packets, single-use plastic plates, cups, spoons, bottles could be seen scattered near the pandals.
But BMC deputy commissioner for sanitation Suvendu Sahoo says penalty is being imposed on those flouting the norms. “The ZDCs have been asked to carry out the enforcement to check flouting of sanitation norms and other violations. The enforcement will be intensified further to prevent littering,” he said. Sahoo added that BMC has made provision for immediate lifting of waste at the pandals late in the night after darshan is over.