Household waste stinks up the city

Arun Bikash DeyAmong the many problems that consume a metro, the one that has become a headache for port city dwellers is poor waste management.

Residents across different areas of the city are being compelled to keep domestic waste in front of their homes or adjacent roads, as conservancy workers of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) are irregular in collecting them.

During a recent visit to KB Aman Ali Road, Ujir Ali Shah by-lane, Momin Road and DC Road areas, it was seen that household waste wrapped in poly bags were kept on the road and in front of residential buildings.

"Conservancy workers used to come every day but they started coming thrice a week since April 2020, right after the pandemic hit," said Abul Kashem, a resident of Ujir Ali Shah by-lane.

"Since January this year, they have started to come twice a week," he added.

Sources said CCC started collecting waste from door-to-door in January 2017. It distributed over 900,000 bins to the houses so that conservancy workers could collect the waste from them daily.

Over 2,000 conservancy workers were appointed on a daily wage basis under the scheme as well.

Himadri Biswas, a resident of KB Aman Ali Road, said, "The authorities have also removed the trash cans. Where do we keep the waste now?"

This correspondent, during recent visits, saw open trash cans in many areas. Conservancy workers were seen keeping household and commercial waste in both open and container cans at Chawkbazar Kitchen Market, Katalganj, Chatteshwari Road and KB Aman Ali Road -- causing discomfort for pedestrians.

Contacted, CCC chief conservancy officer Shafiqul Mannan Siddique said there are supervisors in every ward to look into the works of the conservancy workers.

"I will ask the supervisors. Negligence in duty will not be tolerated," said Shafiqul.

Almost 90 percent of the 1,350 open bins and 96 container bins have already been removed, informed the official. "We will remove the remaining open ones soon," he added.

Asked, Hridoy, a conservancy worker in Baghmoniram, said the number of workers has not increased in five years. On the other hand, the population of the city has increased manifolds.

"It's not possible for workers to cover this many buildings," said Hridoy.

This correspondent could not reach the CCC mayor for comments despite repeated attempts.