Monday, 17 April 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Though field inspection under Swachchh Survekshan 2023 is expected to take place this week in Dehradun, frequently occurring sanitation-related issues in the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) could affect the city’s ranking this year. The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) on Saturday allotted duties to sanitation inspectors to ensure sanitation-related works are being done efficiently in view of the upcoming field inspection to be conducted by a team of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) under its Swachchh Bharat Mission-Urban. However, drivers of vehicles used for door-to-door garbage collection in 47 wards went on strike on Saturday alleging that they have not been paid appropriately by the agencies concerned.
According to them, the agencies concerned have allegedly not paid them for the last month and have also been making some unnecessary deductions from their payments. The MCD officials have called it a misunderstanding between workers and the agencies concerned which will be resolved soon. The chief municipal health officer Dr Avinash Khanna also filed a complaint to the police against four drivers claiming they did not let the sanitation vehicles operate for door to door services on Friday. Khanna also said that the agencies concerned have made arrangements to ensure sanitation services will not be affected across the city. However, it has been observed that such issues do affect sanitation conditions in the city irrespective of MCD’s claim of having everything under control.
The corporation was already strategising to put extra efforts into gaining points during the field inspection in this eighth edition of the survey as waste management services in the city remained in a transitional phase for the past several months and affected cleanliness services like door to door services and clearing of roadside garbage accumulation among others. Roadside garbage accumulation is still a serious concern in the city and with the hindrances in door to door services, it is likely to increase in the next few days which can potentially have a negative impression on the SS23 team arriving from the centre. The senior officials of the corporation said that this year has been comparatively challenging for the corporation but MCD has been working to improve the situation too and it will get a better position in SS 23 like the past two years.
