Garbage piles on in Kharar as sanitation workers continue strike for third day
The Kharar Municipal Council Employees’ Union and sanitation staff are at loggerheads with the municipal council for not accepting their demand of converting the outsourced employees to contractual staff
Garbage continued to pile on the roads and several other places in Kharar as sanitation workers’ indefinite strike entered the third day on Thursday.
The Kharar Municipal Council Employees’ Union and sanitation staff are at loggerheads with the municipal council for not accepting their demand of converting the outsourced employees to contractual staff.
The budget meeting of the council on Wednesday was also cancelled due to the strike. As the deadlock between the municipal council and union continues, people are facing the brunt of it all.
Rajinder Kaur, a resident of Kharar, said the littering of garbage had resulted in hygiene problems in the area. In the absence of garbage collection, the waste was lying alongside the roads, leading to stench, and stray animals were rummaging thought it.
Sandeep Kumar, a resident of Shivalik City, fears that rain would further compound residents’ woes. “The rain will cause the littered garbage to enter the drains, resulting in choking of the sewerage lines. Sadly, the residents are paying the price of tussle between council and employees’ union,” he said.
Pardeep Kumar, who is leading the union’s protest, said their demands were just. He maintained that many sweepers and sewer-men had been working for the council for years. But were working on meagre salaries due to the work being allotted on outsourcing basis. “We are demanding that the workers should at least be hired on contract basis so that they can get better wages. This would immediately improve their standard of living.”
Despite repeated attempts, MC president Jaspreet Kaur Longia was not available for a comment.