JAGTIAL: Though garbage clearance is the duty of local civic officials, the situation is different in Jagtial. One can easily find huge heaps of waste at various points on the outskirts of the town, as the workers have not been clearing it from time-to-time. As a result, the citizens have taken it upon themselves to keep their local areas clean.
According to denizens, though the situation has been the same for quite some time now, the authorities have not taken any steps to find a permanent solution for the menace. Hence, the citizens themselves have been organising sanitation drives in their local areas for the past two months.
Meanwhile, The New Indian Express learnt that a few municipal councillors have also joined this initiative.When this newspaper spoke with a few local residents, they stated that they are even taking up desilting of the nalas.
"Despite filing several complaints, the civic officials have not taken any measures to address the issue. As a result, we decided to take up sanitation works to keep our surroundings clean. The civic officials should feel ashamed that the citizens themselves had to come out and do the works, as they have not been discharging duties properly," a resident of Ward-6 in Jagtial, who wished to remain anonymous, said.
Comprising of 48 wards within a radius of 16 km, as per a 2014 survey, there are 23,213 households in Jagtial and the total population of the town is 96,460, as per the 2011 survey. "Though we brought the issue to the notice of officials, but to no avail. Hence, I decided to work hand-in-hand with the citizens," Guggilla Harish, councillor of Ward-5, said.
When The New Indian Express contacted a few officials to comment on the issue, they were tight-lipped about it.