The GHMC on Tuesday decided to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against workers who went on strike from Monday in protest against handing over of collection and transfer of garbage to Ramky Enviro Engineers.
The workers are on an indefinite strike following a call given by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Employees Union (GHMEU) demanding immediate scrapping of the agreement with Ramky, and also the handing over of the east and west zones for carrying out sanitation work. The union leaders said more than 3,200 workers were participating in the strike, which affected sweeping and shifting of garbage in several parts of the city.
Around 3,800 metric tonnes of garbage is collected and transferred from the city to the dump site each day, and the entire exercise has been brought to a halt, claimed GHMEU president U. Gopal.
“We are fighting for our just demands and rights of the workers, which would be affected if the task were to be handed over to Ramky,” he said. GHMC officials admitted to the daily sanitation drives being partially hit due to the strike.
“We met the union leaders last night and tried to reason it out so as to solve the issue, but they are adamant,” an official said. GHMC Commissioner Somesh Kumar described the timing of the strike as ‘inopportune’ given the hectic run-up to the elections. “We have already written to the government on invoking ESMA. We are also considering notices to those on strike,” he said.
