Solid municipal wastes left uncollected here and there in the city almost throughout the day increased public health and environmental hazards.
The city’s taxpayers blamed growing indifference and inefficiency of the two city corporations for the problem. Municipal waste on streets and open dumpsites has been a perennial source of public health and environmental hazards, they said.
They also said that they find none to lodge complaints with regarding the nagging problems ever since the city was divided providing them with two corporations run by bureaucrats.
Dhaka has become a city of garbage, they said.
Pedestrians complained about disturbing odour from filth lying uncollected on roads and also spilling from waste containers.
Another common complaint was that solid municipal waste is carried in open flat trucks during odd hours of the day.
Solid municipal waste is left uncollected and scattered here and there in several parts of the city, particularly in the busy areas of the Old Town, Azimpur, Jigatola, Dhanmondi, Paribagh, Hazaribagh, Moghbazar, Rampura, Agargaon, Farmgate and Mirpur’s different areas including Kalyanpur, Shewrapara and Taltola.
‘We have to pass by stinking wastes dumped on the road at Jigatola Bazar even at 2 PM, said Aloke, from the nearby Dhopapara neighbourhood.
The city corporation seems to have lost interest in collecting wastes in the morning, he said.
Dhaka South City Corporation chief waste management officer Captain SM Javed Iqbal admitted that there had been some lethargy in collecting wastes in recent times.
‘Due to security concerns we bring out our trucks in the afternoons or nights for waste collection,’ he said.
He dismissed the complaints of residents and pedestrians saying the delays can cause no problems to them.
Azimpur resident Mohammad Shehab, Kollol and Haider said that that the wastes are left uncollected on the road from Nilkhet to BUET until late hours in the day.
As there are no containers on this stretch of the road waste remain scattered causing terrible inconvenience to pedestrians, he said.
Several residents complained that in most parts of the Old Town were usually neglected by the city authorities in timely waste collection.
They said that uncollected waste was causing problems at the Beri Badh, Islambagh, Zindabazar and Begumbazar areas.
The result is, they said, the roads in the areas remained littered with waste during much of the day.
‘What could be the justification to clean the roads at Mouchak Market and Moghbazar in the busy hours of the afternoon, said Tuli, a student.
Everyday, Dhaka South City Corporation uses 126 open trucks and 65 container-carriers for collecting up to 1,800 tonnes of waste, said officials.
Dhaka North City Corporation collects wastes earlier than the schedule, claimed DNCC chief waste management officer Bipan Kumar Saha.
‘During recent blockades DNCC collected waste at night thought it was scheduled to do it in the next morning,’ he said.
So it is quite likely that some wastes, not much, could be seen on the roads in the morning, he added.
A senior official at DNCC waste management department said that the wind shields of two vehicles were damaged during recent disturbances.
Everyday DNCC uses 130 open flat trucks and container carriers for collecting up to 1,800 tonnes of solid wastes, he added.
-With New Age input
