PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Dehradun
The persistent sanitation issue has emerged as a flashpoint at Ekta Vihar, the designated protest site in Dehradun, where poor toilet conditions, irregular cleaning and other lapses are raising questions over maintenance by authorities.
It is important to mention Ekta Vihar is a designated protest site. Currently, lab technologists under the banner of Medical Lab Technologist Association of Uttarakhand have been protesting for the past 136 days at Ekta Vihar and have raised concerns over the deteriorated conditions of the protest site due to non-maintenance by authorities, which has resulted in many ailments for them. Despite repetitive requests for maintenance of the protest site, no action has been taken yet, lab technologists said. Notably, this is not the first time this issue has been raised. Earlier, unemployed nursing graduates who also conducted a protest at the said location under the banner of Nursing Ekta Manch also informed about the conditions of the protest site and urged authorities to act soon.
Commenting on the current scenario of the protest site, Medical Lab Technologist Association of Uttarakhand general secretary Mayank Rana said they have been protesting at Ekta Vihar for a long time. Since the protest started, the condition of the protest site has remained in bad condition. He said the mosquito menace at the protest site is high as the bushes and grass at the protest site are too long and no authorities concerned come to ensure they are cut.
Apart from this, there are three to four mobile toilets and two to three permanent toilets; all are in bad condition and sometimes they try to avoid using them. Additionally, he also said there is no availability of drinking water for protesters. Due to long bushes, snakes have also been seen at protest sites.
He informed that they have contacted Municipal Corporation of Dehradun authorities many times to maintain the protest site, but no action has been taken yet. He said if they make repeated calls, only then authorities concerned come and make temporary arrangements.
Rana said they have now tired of urging authorities for maintenance. He said sometimes they themselves cut bushes on the protest site ground. The government has made a protest site but does not have responsibility to maintain it. Due to the bad condition of this, many lab technologists have got ill in the past few days; many of them caught chikungunya, food poisoning and other ailments. He emphasised that garbage pick-up vehicles also do not come to the protest site.
