Hyderabad: Garbage tossers make it tough for civic staff

Jalpally: In the absence of a systematic garbage collection mechanism and lack of proper awareness among the public itself about safe disposal of the trash, an unhealthy atmosphere is prevailing in Jalpally Municipality that may lead to several health-related issues if remedial steps are not taken.

Spread over an area of 30 square kilometers with a mixed population of around 80,374 (as per 2011 census), this municipality was carved out in 2016 by merging areas of Jallapally, Balapur, Kottapet and Pahadi Shareef. Together these areas carry around 23,961 families that are divided into different socio-economic groups.

However, garbage collection became the biggest challenge ever since the Jalpally emerged as a municipality. Garbage scattered around the roads, on open plots, in streets and on the banks of water bodies are a common scene in several areas of Jalpally municipality. In colonies, which are largely not yet filled and gradually evolving into habitations, people are seen throwing trash in nearby open plots turning the ambience completely vulnerable for seasonal diseases.

"To address the issue in a comprehensive way we rolled out door-to-door garbage collection programme seven months ago in the area but in the absence of a dry resource centre (DRC) to dump and treat the trash, they are facing hardship to dispose of the trash making this issue remain stinking and persisting," informed Abdallah Sadi, Chairmen Jalpally Municipality.

To cart away the garbage being collected on a daily basis from different colonies, the Jalpally municipality has a sanitary wing with a supporting strength of 100 staff members buttressed with a fleet of 16 autos, 4 tractors and one gopher sewer machine.

"We even proposed to purchase a JCB and two more tractors to consolidate the sanitary fleet. Also, there is a plan to introduce driver-cum-owner scheme to catalyze a comprehensive way of garbage collection in Jalpally. However, lack of a DRC center makes it hard to address the garbage collection issue," informed Abdallah.

Earlier, he further said, it was proposed to have a center at BijaanGutta but the idea was dropped later. Recently we have asked the government to provide us a suitable place for a dumping yard that would help us to resolve the issue properly.