As the strike of door-to-door garbage collectors entered its ninth day, the Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, pressed 55 tractor-trailers into service to collect waste amidst tight security. Two workers and a policeman were deployed with each tractor-trailer to ensure that the work could continue without any hiccup.
However, the protesters prevented the unloading of garbage at the Sector 25 dumping ground for over three hours till 1 pm. Around 400 protesters were detained by the police.
Meanwhile, high drama was witnessed at the MC office as a meeting of city councillors, called by Mayor Devesh Moudgil, ended in allegations and the counter allegations. Difference among BJP councillors, too, came to the fore. The Congress also boycotted the meeting.
Devinder Singh Babla, leader of the Opposition, along with four other councillors, boycotted the meeting. Babla said BJP leaders failed to protect interests of the garbage collectors. Earlier, the meeting witnessed bickering between BJP councillors and the Mayor. Rajesh Kalia of the BJP alleged that the Mayor stopped him from meeting the Municipal Commissioner. The Mayor refuted the allegations.
The Mayor said he had promised to give jobs to all 1,447 waste collectors. He said a three-member committee had been formed to discuss issues with waste collectors. Later, Moudgil flagged off a tractor-trailer to collect household waste in the presence of Municipal Commissioner KK Yadav. Some BJP councillors skipped the function.
Meanwhile, eight councillors, including former mayors Arun Sood, Asha Kumari Jaswal, met the Municipal Commissioner separately. The Mayor also released special jingles, prepared for creating awareness about a cleanliness campaign.
These jingles will be played during the door-to-door collection of garbage. In addition to it, the office of Medical Officer (Health) has set up a registration desk in front of the MC building, Setcor 17, for the registration of door-to-door collectors.
