Garbage remained strewn across most parts of east Delhi for the sixth consecutive day on Tuesday as a section of sanitation workers refused to call off their strike demanding pending salaries and arrear payments.
On Tuesday, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) said that the salaries of the sanitation staff had been paid on Monday using ₹119 crore that the Delhi government had transferred on the same day.
In a statement, the EDMC said that after a meeting with Commissioner Mohanjeet Singh “all unions” had called off the strike and promised to return to work by “Tuesday evening”.
Veer Pal Parcha, the east Delhi representative of the Delhi Pradesh Safai Karamchari Sangh, said that 16 unions had decided to call off the strike at noon on Wednesday. “We are getting our salaries and the Commissioner has assured us that our arrears would be given by April,” Mr. Parcha said.
‘Strike is still on’
However, many of the unions representing a large number of workers claimed that they had not received salaries and their strike was still on.
“We are yet to receive our salaries and will continue our strike till our demands are met. In fact, other employees, including teachers and doctors, will be soon pledging their support,” said Sanjay Gehlot, chairperson of the MCD Swachhta Karamchari Union.
Protests in north Delhi
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation, which too hasn’t paid employees for two months, saw protests on Tuesday, though there was no strike.
The United Front of MCD Employees organised a protest outside the Rohini Zone office of the corporation. Rajendra Mewati, the general secretary of the front, said that apart from sanitation staff, representatives of municipal engineers and teachers also joined the protest. He also said that workers would protest at the headquarters of the North Corporation, Civic Centre, on January 18.
The EDMC sanitation workers went on strike on January 6 as employees of the cash-strapped civic body hadn’t been paid their salaries for November and December 2016. While they stopped sweeping streets and lifting garbage from January 6, trash was not collected on January 5 as well, since it was a public holiday.
Using 28 private trucks, the EDMC said it had managed to remove 561.73 metric tonnes of garbage on Tuesday as of 4 p.m. On Monday, the EDMC used 58 trucks to remove 1,400 metric tonnes, a small part of the usual 2,500 metric tonnes of trash generated in east Delhi every day.
