Sanitation workers of the Municipal Corporation Hisar created a ruckus when municipal staff attempted to clear waste that had been lying on the roads for several days due to an ongoing strike.
The MC officials deployed JCB machines to lift garbage from the market areas, including Rajguru Market, Auto Market, Azad Nagar and other locations on Friday. However, the protesting workers reached the spot and stalled the cleaning operations to register their protest.
As MC officials, with the help of private workers and police personnel, tried to load garbage into a tractor-trolley, the striking sanitation workers surrounded the vehicle and raised slogans against the administration. During the protest, some workers climbed onto the trolley and scattered the collected garbage back on the road.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Shalini Chetal and Executive Officer Amit Kaushik were present at the site leading the operations. However, due to the protest, the municipal staff had left the work unfinished.
Similarly, when the MC workers attempted to clear garbage from Azad Nagar and near the Old Court Complex, the operation was disrupted due to the workers’ protest. Sanitation employees also continued sit-ins and demonstrations at garbage collection points near ITI Chowk, Kamri Road and other parts of the city.
The sanitation workers have formed four teams to keep vigil at major garbage dumping points overnight, aiming to press the government to accept their demands. Large quantities of garbage have accumulated across roads and markets as the strike continues.
Meanwhile, Municipal Employees’ Union state president Naresh Shastri accused the government of adopting a “repressive policy”. He said the employees were protesting peacefully, but the government was not resolving their demands. “We do not want confrontation; we only want the government to fulfil our demands,” he said.
Garbage collection in Hisar has remained suspended for the past nine days due to the strike. Around 1,890 tonnes of garbage is reported to have accumulated on roads and near residential areas. Door-to-door waste collection services have also remained suspended during this period.
