Overflowing garbage bins raise a stink

Sluggish clearance by GHMC workers leads to potentially hazardous health situation

Health Hazard: Garbage lying uncleared for days together posing serious health threat to citizens at Amberpet in Hyderabad on Thursday. Photo: Nagara Gopal

The sight of an overflowing garbage bin at the street corners has become rather common nowadays, with the garbage clearance mechanism losing its efficacy. The sluggish clearance of garbage is leading to potentially hazardous health situations at several places in the twin cities.

“Overflowing garbage bin is a common sight for us. Garbage trucks come just twice a week here so we are forced to bear with the stench,” a resident of Vijaya Nagar Colony, G. Kavita says. “It would be much better if the garbage bins are cleared everyday. Some times, it becomes impossible to keep our doors and windows open even during the day time,” she complains.

Stench, breeding site

Apart from stench, overflowing garbage bins are also becoming breeding sites for mosquitoes, a resident of Dayanad Nagar, Anita Rao says. “The area before the HMWSSB overhead water tank in our locality has been converted into a local garbage dump. Garbage occupies a major portion of the road, causing inconvenience to commuters along with the people going out for morning walks,” she said. The garbage is collected only once in three days, she complains.

In majority areas, people put rubbish in plastic covers and throw it randomly towards the dustbins. As a result, the area around such bins is filled with foul smell, making it unbearable to even pass by, let alone reside.

Stray dogs

“Our area has dozens of stray dogs which thrive solely from the garbage in and around the bins. We are scared for our lives when passing via the bins as one can always spot at least five to six irate dogs squabbling over trash,” says K. Anupama, a resident of Maruthinagar near Kothapet.

But, why are GHMC workers clearing the garbage with considerable delay while garbage collectors visit our homes regularly? The reason is simple. Garbage collectors charge a regular fee to pick up garbage from our doorstep and they also segregate it to resell items like paper, plastic and glass bottles at a higher rate, while dumping rest of the trash in dustbins. Lack of tight monitoring of garbage-lifting from street corners appears to be the main drawback.

While upmarket localities are not an exception from this menace, commercial areas and slums are always hit more. The amount of garbage generated from fruit and vegetable markets requires clearance at least twice a day, while slums are never visited by the garbage collectors because of lack of revenue from there.