Nobody listens to GMC: Official

Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s pleas to the public to refrain from littering public places and the areas surrounding roadside garbage bins have fallen on deaf ears.

Many people get into heated arguments with the municipal workers when asked to stop littering.

While the GMC has penalised several business establishments in the city for littering the roads and drains with all kinds of non-biodegradable waste, the civic body is facing a tough time watching over the people who litter the roadsides with garbage from their residences.

“Our GMC workers work in shifts and in the morning shift they finish collecting the garbage from the roadside garbage bins in different parts of the city by 9am. Most people come and dump the garbage generated in their homes and business establishments after this time, which is all right. But the main problem is that they just throw their packets of trash near the garbage bins and not inside them. This automatically dirties the surroundings. All our pleas to refrain from littering the roads have fallen on deaf ears,” said Kavita Padmanavan, deputy commissioner of the GMC.

“Many times people throw trash on the roadside. When our workers try to reason with them, they argue with them. Whenever such incidents take place, our workers bring it to the notice of the enforcement branch of the GMC. Our enforcement officers reach the spot and take the required action. But while it is easy to penalise business establishments found violating the norms, it is very difficult to monitor each and every person,” said Padmanavan.

The GMC’s plan to launch a sensitisation programme on cleanliness, along with local NGOs, is yet to materialise.

Members of different NGOs were supposed to pay door-to-door visits and make people aware of the manner they pollute and harm the environment, concentrating on GS Road initially.

“Starting a sensitisation campaign on cleanliness is not easy as the particular programme cannot be conducted like other sensitisation programmes. To make it a success, the NGOs will have to make door-to-door visits to mobilise the public and make them understand that it is their responsibility to keep their city clean. We have had meetings with a few local NGOs and are in the process of chalking out a proper plan to launch the campaign very soon,” said Padmanavan.

“We have selected definite areas based on the requirement of cleanliness and to make the campaign effective we will also concentrate on different apartment blocks,” he added.