GUWAHATI, Sept 18 - Irregular service by NGOs operating under the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) and shortage of vehicles used in garbage collection are working in tandem to ensure that a clean Guwahati remains a distant dream. The resultant spillover of rotten waste around the garbage bins in all parts of the city is therefore a common sight � as eyesores on one hand and sources of obnoxious stench on the other.
Around 500 tonnes of garbage are generated in the city every day. A source in the GMC said that the municipal body�s limited number of vehicles used for collecting garbage is compounding the problem. The GMC needs around 45 vehicles for lifting and unloading garbage from the bins and containers, but it has only 15 vehicles at present. Due to this, it fails to collect garbage from many pockets of the city. With the number of vehicles being so limited, it becomes tough for the Corporation to carry the garbage to the transfer station or to the landfill site on time.
Altogether 130 garbage bins are now functional in the city after the GMC removed several bins from the city streets.
There are 90 NGOs that collect garbage from doorsteps of people on behalf of the Corporation. However, these NGOs are not regular in collection of garbage generated in many localities. The households are suffering due to the unhygienic conditions primarily caused by the irregularity of NGOs responsible for garbage collection.
�It has been around a week but these garbage bins have remained overloaded. With rotten filth spilling over and leaving the entire place stinking, the condition of the locality here has turned extremely unhealthy. The NGOs under the Corporation need to be regular in clearing these bins,� Bimal Pathak, a resident of Saukuchi said.
�We�ve witnessed that people throw waste on the roadside as the garbage bins are already overloaded. Crows, ragpickers and scavengers then make the matters worse,� Rahim Ali, a shopkeeper of Hatigaon Bhetapara road, said.
�The NGO workers visit the households once in a week. But, it has been around two months since they last visited our locality. To get around this problem, we have been compelled to hire some other persons to collect the garbage,� Biki Pathak of Beltola said.
�NGOs charge Rs 30 per month for collection of garbage from each household. Some of them demand extra charge for the rented accommodations,� he added.
