AAP brooms sweep Delhi garbage

Municipal Corporation sanitation workers’ strike enters day five.

Delhi Ministers and Aam Aadmi Party MLAs along with party men armed with brooms cleaned the streets on Sunday even as the Municipal Corporation sanitation workers’ strike entered day five. A sanitation drive was launched in all the AAP constituencies and garbage was removed.

The sanitation workers on their part continued with their strike and the vociferous protestors has warned the AAP government that if their demands, which includes clearing their dues and regularisation, aren’t looked into, the garbage situation in the city is likely to ‘deteriorate’ in the coming days.

Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia, who also carried out the cleaning drive in his constituency, Patparganj, said “we have already disbursed all the funds to municipal corporations for pay the salaries of their staff. We cannot let people live amid garbage. Hence, we have undertaken the cleanliness drive.”

More than 2,000 Delhi Jal Board workers have teamed up with the PWD workers for the cleanliness drive and 123 machines including auto tippers, maintenance vans and JCB, were deployed on Sunday. The protesting safai karamcharis clashed with the Public Works Department teams, who had been pressed into cleaning the roads. The PWD officials said at on some places, like Laxmi Nagar, Uttam Nagar, attempts were made to stall the cleaning work. “But after reporting these incidents to the police, cleaning work started,” said a government spokesperson.

The Delhi government last week had announced auditing of the corporations’ accounts but the BJP-led civic agencies turned down. “They don’t want Delhi government to audit the accounts. They have clearly said that only the Home Ministry can audit their accounts. But they aren’t asking for grant from the Centre,” said Mr. Sisodia.

But this isn’t the first time that the AAP MLAs took up the cleaning work after sanitation workers went on strike. Last year in March, June and October, the safai karamcharis dumped garbage on the roads as a mark of protest. Then also the AAP MLAs cleaned the streets.