Rajbiraj, October 2

Unpleasant odour emanating from the garbage dumped at public places and road sides in Rajbiraj Municipality, Saptari, has become a big headache for locals.

The garbage piled up on the roadsides has not been collected by the municipality for want of equipment required to collect garbage. As many as 50 sanitation staffers have been hired by the municipality for the purpose. At least five to six staffers have been deployed in all 16 wards to collect household waste and keep public places clean. However, the municipality has only five tractors and two tippers to collect garbage generated in the municipality areas. Municipality sources said five tractors and two tippers were not sufficient to collect garbage on time. Municipality officials held the locals responsible for the problem as they had dumped household waste on public roads.

The sanitation issue became a serious concern after locals ignored the time table given by the municipality for garbage management. Majority of households do not bring their household waste when the multiplicity tractor or tipper passes from their houses. And later they throw the waste on the roadside, According to municipality sources. Chairman Sukharam Yadav of Public Networks Saptari said locals were not aware about their responsibility to keep their surrounding clean.

Local businessmen said that waste management became a major problem after the municipality failed to implement the rules strictly. “We are compelled to run our business bearing with the foul smell that emanates from the garage and the authorities concerned have not taken any action against those who litter the roads,” said Rama Kantha Sah, an official at the municipality. He said the had problem increased due to lack of dumping site and cattle left on the roads.

The municipality has not managed any dumping site till date. The municipality had decided to construct a dumping site at Biraul of Ward No 10, but the land there was used to construct a building of Ram Raja Prasad Singh Health Science Institute.

Meanwhile, Information Officer at the municipality Manoj Kumar Yadav sought locals’ help to keep the municipality clean and maintain sanitation. He also said the municipality had been searching for a dumping site elsewhere.