Hyderabad: Corona scare Garbage collectors avoid lifting waste

Hyderabad: In some areas of the city, garbage collectors are refusing to collect waste. When contacted, Gopal Udhari, the president of GHMC Employees Union, said, "None of these workers is made aware of the guidelines by the municipality or are made aware of precautionary measures about COVID-19. Workers are not provided with masks, gloves or even sanitisers."

"They are forced to work for extra hours every day. They do not get payment regularly. However, after the lockdown the government has ordered that there a deduction in their salary as well. In such conditions how can someone work?" questioned Gopal.

There are 18,000 sanitation workers collecting several tonnes of garbage in the city every day. Many are refusing to collect plastic waste such as plastic bottles and plastic covers fearing they may get affected by Coronavirus.

The vehicles collecting waste should be thoroughly disinfected and cleaned daily, and the waste from quarantined households should be disposed of only through incineration. Other wastes including used masks or gloves from non-quarantine households should be treated as domestic hazardous waste and wrapped in a separate wrapper, collected and transported separately without mixing with normal household waste. The garbage collectors are to be given fresh protective kits daily.