BJP, CPM wage war over waste

But the residents are at the receiving end. The residents of Karamana - one of the key wards that offers offer a fierce three-cornered fight among the BJP, Congress and the LDF – is facing the brunt of this unhealthy race for supremacy.

The health authorities of the city corporation are also having a hard time cleaning up the mess made by the political parties.

The BJP and CPM hoist their flags at every cleaned-up dumping points of Karamana health circle.

“There used to be a proper system earlier, and now it has gone to the dogs,” said R. Ragesh Babu, a resident.

“Local body elections are approaching, and now the political parties are using this as a bait to win the polls. They clean up the dumps, but the garbage issue remains unresolved. We need a permanent solution,” he said.

An official at the Karamana health circle office said the cleaning staff also are at the receiving end.

“These party workers dump waste at cleared points and make an issue out of it the next day. They stage protests. We are working day and night, and nobody is there to listen to our grievances,” he said.

Another resident, Sreenivasan B., said many people residing in the region do not have space to dispose of waste.

“The political parties are very active these days, and they want to make capital out of this as elections are round the corner,” he said.

“The cleaning workers remove waste every day. There should be a proper system or the people dump it in public places.”

Karamana councillor S. Jayashree alleged that BJP was trying to hijack the efforts of LDF in waste management. “People are not fools,” she said.

“They became active all on a sudden eyeing the elections. All these past years they were not in the picture, and no efforts were taken to resolve the garbage issue.”