Pourakarmikas Strike reaching 11th Day The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) Plans Protest in front of MLA Vedavyas Kamath’s House. A war room functioning at the moment, people may dial 8904078297 or 8197270222 between 9 am and 5 pm to get waste remaining near roadsides, houses and apartments cleared.
Mangaluru: With no settlement reached between the leaders of the Pourakarmikas and the state government, the sanitation workers have reached the 11th day, and many parts of the city continue to stink due to garbage piled up. Every nook and corner of the city is seen with heaps of uncollected garbage, and nothing has been done by the officials of Mangaluru City Corporation or the local MLA Vedavyas Kamath. While the MCC has been carrying out the door-to-door waste collection with its limited workforce, many areas in the city have not been covered and people are dumping waste on the road.
While members of the DYFI said their youth wing will hold a protest by carrying waste in front of the city MLA’s house if the demands of the pourakarmikas were not met, meantime, on Thursday social activist Srinivasan Nandagopal held a protest in a novel way, by carrying the waste bags from his house to the MCC office in Lalbagh. Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Nandagopal said ” Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) has failed to collect the wastes for the last three weeks. Garbage is being littered everywhere in the so-called ‘Smart City’. The entire city has been jeopardised. When people’s representatives are questioned they are not ready to answer, including MLA Vedhavyas Kamath and MP Nalin Kur Kateel. When the administrative mechanism has failed people should raise their voices. The official apathy cannot be tolerated”.
Protest by Activist Srinivas Nandagopal
Meanwhile, People have been taking Mangaluru City South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath and MCC officials to task for not taking initiative to solve the crisis. DYFI district president BK Imthiyaz said that though pourakarmikas in the state have been protesting for their demands, the double-engineered government of the BJP has not responded. “While spending crores of rupees under the Smart City Mission, the government has ignored those pourakarmikas who serve selflessly to keep the city clean and beautiful. We will protest in front of MLA Kamath’s house carrying the waste if pourakarmikas’ demands are not fulfilled,” he said.
As per MLA Vedavyas Kamath, a war room will function from his office in the city to find solutions to the garbage issue. MLA said that people may dial 8904078297 or 8197270222 between 9 am and 5 pm to get waste remaining near roadsides, houses and apartments cleared. “Efforts are on to convince garbage collection workers, who are on strike. Workers have been informed that they will be back to work only after the state-level strike is withdrawn. We have appointed workers temporarily and started a waste collection. We have already appointed nearly 80 drivers and will hire 40 more soon. Interested drivers may contact my office,” he added.
He further said, ” Door-to-door waste collection has not been regular since temporary workers hired for the purpose have no experience. Hence, waste collection in many parts of the city is affected, and the issue will be solved soon. The issue will be solved within three–four days. Let opposition parties forget politics and join hands in the interest of the public”.
