Dumping poses health threats, traffic snarls
The area stinks like hell. Garbage dumped on both sides of a major city road connecting two educational institutions in the heart of the city has not only made the life of the school children miserable but also posing threat to their health.
The road behind Kendriya Vidyalaya No. 1 and St. Joseph’s High School near Ram Mandir has turned into a dumping yard, courtesy, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, the agency that is responsible for maintaining the city’s cleanliness and hygiene. The garbage comprises construction and civic waste.
The road is mostly used by residents of Unit-IX, students of KV No 1, St. Joseph’s High School, hostel boarders of the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition and students of Capital High School.
How dumping began
Contractors of the Public Works Department started dumping construction wastes along major city roads including the road near the two schools during the widening of the road from Vani Vihar to Rajmahal square two years back. Protests from the school authority and the local residents went unheard.
After the road works of the PWD were completed, the BMC used the thoroughfare to dump the remnants and debris so much so that now, almost half of the road is blocked making manoeuvering of vehicles difficult.
Construction material
To add to the woes, some local youths started piling up construction materials for commerical purpose paying scant regard to public inconvenience. Besides, the small vacant space available near the side gate of the St Joseph’s High School has also turned into a parking lot for buses of some city based private engineering colleges.
This has posed problems for parents coming to drop and pick up their children who struggle to find a space to park their vehicles. With no vacant space, they park on the road leading to traffic congestion, particularly during peak hours.
The unheard voices
‘’Apart from polluting the vicinity, the debris eats into the parking area. It is becoming difficult to park vehicles. It seems the civic authorities are not paying any heed to such grievous problems,” said BC Samal, while dropping his daughter in the school.
‘’We have written several times to the Mayor of the BMC as the situation is becoming worse by the day. We are concerned about the children because of the unhygienic conditions prevailing around the school,’’ said a school teacher S John.
Principal of St Joseph’s School Sister Sylivia also expressed her displeasure over the matter and blamed the lack of concern of the civic authorities for the situation.
Contacted, Mayor Ananata Narayan Jena was apologetic and stated that the debris will be cleaned within a couple of days.