In a big relief to the city, one of the GHMC unions — Bhagyanagar Municipal Employees Union — on Wednesday called off its three-day-old strike of outsourced employees.
However, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Employees Union (GHMEU) announced its decision to continue the stir which has affected garbage collection and road sweeping for the last couple of days.
The BMEU took the decision to call off its stir after an assurance on purchase of new vehicles for garbage lifting.
The union representatives met Somesh Kumar, who took charge as GHMC Commissioner on Wednesday and also his predecessor M.T. Krishna Babu and sought a specific letter addressed to the government requesting sanction of the new vehicles.
“The civic body has addressed the government on the issue and we have called off the strike,” BMS general secretary Vinay Kapoor said. But, GHMEU president U. Gopal said they would continue with the agitation till clear assurances were received from the authorities on the wage hike and also the new vehicles.
Sanitation works took a beating for the third day on Wednesday with no roads or streets swept and garbage lifted and the conditions worsening with heavy rains that lashed the city. Littered streets and garbage from the bins carried on to the streets by the rain water was a common scene at most places.
The civic body shifts around 3,500 tonnes of garbage each day from the city and with no work taken on the third day, nearly 10,000 tonnes of the waste and garbage has been left on the streets.
“Talks are on with the GHMEU representatives. We are positive on ending the agitation in view of the problems caused to the citizens,” Mr. Krishna Babu said.
