JBS reeks as locals dump garbage in open

Open urination on the garbage leaves the famed bus terminal stinking

Secunderabad: One of the busiest bus terminals in the south, the Jubilee Bus Station (JBS) in Secunderabad is quite popular among commuters in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, apart from thousands of travellers from the neighbouring States. But despite its puff and hype, the reality is, its beneficiaries do not seem to be all that delighted.

Sanitary conditions at the JBS are pathetic as garbage from the surrounding shops and stalls is being indiscriminately dumped right in the middle of the bus station in the open.

Commuters and bus conductors find this as an opportunity to take a leak in the same garbage dump with complete disregard to regular commuters. The unbearable stink that emanates leaves commuters waiting for the bus run for cover.

They cannot not help but wrap a piece of cloth around their noses due to unbearable stink being caused by open urination and garbage littering right in the middle of the bus station.

Garbage piles up especially during weekends as the commuters throw their waste material to add to the existing trash. It is observed that lack of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) dustbin in the area is one of the major reasons for this littering.

Moreover, despite the presence of a public toilet, bus conductors prefer to have a leak in the garbage making it even more uncomfortable for the commuters.

“They are government employees and if they continue to do this, then we can’t expect the regular passengers to change,” said the owner of a tea stall next to the garbage dump who insists his customers to dump tea cups in a small cardboard box he uses as dust bin due to lack of proper ones.

Despite the rising amount of garbage, the GHMC garbage truck seems to be irregular in clearing the garbage dump in the area.

An auto driver who parks his vehicle in the auto stand next to the garbage dump every day said the GHMC truck only showed up once in every 2-3 days or sometimes even once a week to clear the garbage from the area.

“Even if the GHMC truck comes, the workers do not clear the entire garbage and do an incomplete job,” he said. Further, owners of food stalls around the bus station said lack of garbage bins left them with no other option other than to dump the garbage in the open. “The bins that we set up start overflowing as nobody comes to collect them,” they said.

Despite this, they expressed their issues with the unhygienic conditions surrounding their stalls due to this. The area also has a large population of mosquitoes and stray animals scattering the garbage also proves to be as a major issue.

By Sasidhar Kocharlakota