Garbage Heaps Pose Health Risk For Angul Denizens During Pandemic

Angul: The industrial town of Angul has turned out to be a dumping yard. Garbage and leftovers thrown away by the residents block the arterial roads.

The busy thoroughfare from Harimohuri Chhak to the bus stand greets the visitors with a stinking smell.

Angul has 23 wards and produces nearly four tonnes of garbage on a daily basis. The places near busy intersections like Amalapara, Similipada, Medical Square, Gandhi Marg and a number of traffic squares are filled up with garbage as the municipality has failed to transport the waste to a dumping yard.

The dumping yard issue has been there for several years as the municipal authorities seemed to be never bothered over the wellbeing of the denizens of the industrial city.

Some months ago, the municipal personnel, as well as the district officials, had tried to dump the garbage on the city outskirts like Panchamahala and Bherubania but failed to do so because of stiff opposition from the villagers.

The concerned villagers had protested that their places are not meant for being the dumping yards of city dwellers. They warned that they would resort to agitation if the district administration of the municipal authorities ever tries to dump garbage on their land.

District Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain has expressed his anger that the municipal authorities are little concerned about the responsibilities when the town is reeling under a severe spell of coronavirus.

The executive officer of Angul Municipality, Girija Shankar Mallik said the agency assigned with the task of clearing garbage from the town is not performing its duty properly. Mallik said action will be taken against the agency.

A city dweller Suman Jena said heaps of garbage will further deteriorate the situation and pose a health risk for the people. She said this issue has to be tackled at the earliest.

Advocate Gopal Chandra Nath also said the municipal authorities could no longer put the blame on local political representatives for the issue. The onus is now on the administration.

Official sources said the detailed project report will be prepared soon for the viability of the sewerage plant. They said nearly Rs 8 crore will be spent on the treatment plant. The officials said the treated water will be used for agriculture purpose.

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