Jajpur: Sanitation has gone haywire in the Jajpur Road area of Vyasanagar municipality even though around Rs 2 crore is being spent annually on sanitation.
The regular maintenance of sanitation facilities is important here as the town is the gateway to the Kalinganagar Industrial Complex which houses major companies, a report said.
The charge that sanitation has gone haywire in Jajpur Road is not unfounded as tonnes of garbage can be seen lying on the roadside and at the Dala Bypass Square. Drains remain clogged here for months together as there is no regular cleaning. This has led to mosquito menace, and has sparked fear about outbreak of vector-borne diseases.
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) had strictly asked all urban civic bodies and panchayats to ensure proper disposal of solid waste.
The NGT had asked local authorities not to dump waste in the open, and had warned that any violation will be dealt with strictly and that the concerned civic bodies will be penalsed. The NGT order had had no effect on Vyasanagar municipality.
There are allegations that this happened due to the inefficiency of private agency ‘Jagruti’ which had been assigned the task of maintaining cleanliness in the town.
The agency is believed to have received Rs 3 crore as payment in the last two years, but cleanliness remains a far cry in the town.
The civic body privatised garbage collection in 2017 and handed it over to Jagruti with some riders. As per the conditions, the agency had to collect garbage from all households, sweep roads, clean drains and remove the garbage dumped at the provisional dumping yard.
The agency had also agreed to clean the lanes, drains and cut the shrubs and overgrown bushes in the town to check mosquitoes. But it has failed to supply dustbins to various areas of the town to help people dispose their waste. However, the agency regularly submits a bill for around Rs 14 lakh every month towards its expenses.
Sources in the civic body said the agency had received Rs 85 lakh in September 2017 and March 2018 and Rs 2 crore during fiscal 2018-19.
As per the contract, the civic body can penalise the agency if it fails to fulfil its obligations. However, the civic body has not done anything and is sitting pretty over the issue.
When contacted, Santosh Kumar Mishra, the civic body’s administrative officer, said he will take up the matter with Jagruti.
