Angul: Angul municipal authorities have directed its officials to go to each and every ward to inspect whether garbage lifting and scavenging are being done properly or not, leaving civic officials fuming.
They alleged that the service provided by a private firm engaged by the municipality to carry out garbage lifting and scavenging jobs across the town is found wanting. “And now the civic authority is putting the task of doing the job of that firm on us,” they alleged.
The civic body floated a tender in December, 2018 asking for interested parties to carry out solid waste management and scavenging. A private organisation named ‘L and K’ got the job.
Some days later, the organization retrenched some of its workers following which they began a strike, leaving the town stinking. However, the agency somehow managed to carry on the service.
As per the agreement, an employee of the firm is to go with the sanitation officer of the civic body to see if garbage lifting is satisfactory. However, none of the employees of the firm is visiting the town, some officials alleged.
“This is a clear violation of the agreement. Yet the municipality is not pulling up the firm. It is instead putting its own staff to do the job supposed to be done by the firm’ employees,” they alleged.
The civic body has recently put up a notice directing all 23 staff starting from the executive engineer, junior engineer, senior assistant, junior assistant, accountant to DLS workers to visit as many wards from 6 am to 8 am to supervise the garbage lifting exercise. Action would be taken against anyone found disobeying the direction.
The civic body employees expressed their concern as to why the authority is not taking any step against the firm for violation of agreement and instead deliberately harassing them.
When contacted, municipal executive officer Subhendu Jena said, “As complaints regarding poor scavenging are pouring in, our staff are being put to use for inspection.” However, he had no satisfactory answer as to why the civic body has a soft corner for the private firm.
PNN