Sambalpur: Citizens have to bear the cost of operating garbage disposal system by December in Sambalpur Municipality Corporation (SMC) area against the earlier practice of free service. It will also be effective in Burla and Hirakud as these two previous notified area councils are now part of the newly formed corporation.
SMC sources said the user fee may vary from Rs 30 to Rs 5,000 per month depending on the size and type of building and locality. The service charge was started as an experiment in some selected areas in 2015. There are about 50 small and large vehicles engaged in door-to-door garbage collection.
Some citizens are not agreeable to the proposal, contending “why we should pay extra for garbage collection, while SMC is already collecting taxes from us as usual.”
Speaking to Orissa POST, advocate Bodhram Dash said development in any form is always welcome but imposition of such tax arbitrarily in some new name is not acceptable as it used to be included in holding tax as per earlier practices. He added holding tax has been increased 10 times in the name of formation of corporation here and again imposing another tax for garbage collection is not justified. People will oppose it, Dash said.
He deplored that services in the city area are yet to be improved, drains are choked with silt and drain water overflows on the road, besides roads are ravaged with undulated surfaces and pot holes. Garbage dumps are still found on streets. “How can people accept this extra load of tax without delivery of service?” Dash asked.
Leader of a senior citizen forum, Prafulla Hota raised another pertinent question that how can SMC impose some taxes on its own? He said such issues should be decided by elected bodies, whereas SMC election is delayed for more than three years.
Demanding municipal election at the earliest, he said in the absence of elected representatives the authority must refrain from such arbitrary actions.
Some more people feel that the problem could be solved in a tangible way only after they get their elected representatives the power to decide on the issue and the bureaucratic decision may not be acceptable to people.
It was learnt from SMC sources that it may launch a public awareness campaign before imposing user fee for garbage collection. The sources said SMC may organise a joint meeting of various stakeholders like house owners, business organisations, street vendors, hoteliers and nursing homes to take a decision soon in this regard.
Sambalpur figures low in the list of cities maintaining cleanliness that has ashamed many of its conscious citizens. So, it is expected that there would be intense efforts to improve the existing situation.
The SMC has plans to impose penalties on offences like littering or throwing garbage other than in its prefixed place.
There is a provision to segregate the bio-degradable garbage from non-degradable before depositing it with the garbage collecting vans. Any deviation or violation of the rule may attract punitive measures.
Since Sambalpur is a growing city, construction works are a regular feature and dumping of building materials on the roadsides is a common practice. So, the civic authorities have decided to curb this practice by taking punitive measures. Similarly, encroachment of public places is a common nuisance and this is expected to be dealt with hefty fines on offenders and confiscation of illegal properties. Most of roadside drains are encroached upon by building owners in such a way that these are hardly cleaned by sanitation workers.
But the bottom line is that imposition of new taxes before visible development may not be acceptable to the people at large. PNN
