BHAWANIPATNA: Members of Citizen Forum, Kalahandi have expressed concern over deteriorating sanitation in Bhawanipatna Municipality area. They have also submitted a memorandum to the Executive Officer (EO) of the municipality over the issue.
President of the forum Ramachandra Mohapatra alleged that the town is stinking due to failure in taking sanitation measures by the civic body. The streets in most of the wards and banks of the water bodies have turned into garbage dumping yards and the drains are rarely cleaned by the municipality. Similarly, water of Purushottam Sagar, Nuabandh and Asha Sagar has been polluted due to dumping of garbage while drain water is being discharged to Ghoda Ghat Nullah and Asha Sagar, he added.
They apprehended that the unhygienic condition may lead to serious health problems like outbreak of jaundice while the town is already facing the problem of mosquito menace. The fogging machine procured by the municipality is also not used to repel mosquitoes. While the municipality has 29 regular sanitary staff, 18 posts are lying vacant. The Bhubaneswar-based agency also failed to maintain sanitation in the town, they said.
Chairman of the municipality Aditya Nanda said steps are being taken to make the town garbage-free soon. The sanitation work is being managed by 194 staff engaged by the agency, he added.