Stink of piled-up garbage grips Hyderabad

Stuck between the administrative fight, the city has accumulated over 7000 metric tons of garbage, adding to the day–to-day waste generated by hundreds of eateries serving Ramzan special dishes.

Hundreds of food joints, especially in the Old City, are catering to the Ramzan crowd till early hours. With the indefinite strike, the total uncollected garbage had exceeded 7000 metric tons. People were seen eating at places with unlifted garbage strewn around since Monday.

Apart from the stink, accumulated garbage in Hyderabad is inviting mosquitoes and stray animals. From sweeping of roads to lifting garbage and transportation, all civic works have been paralyzed as GHMC and Water Works employees have gone on strike. The strike has also hit anti-mosquito and veterinary services in the twin cities and all complaints calls regarding burning of garbage, street dogs, dysfunctional streetlights etc. are going unattended.

The situation will worsen if it rains since the monsoon emergency staff is also part of the strike. The municipal corporation has so far not arranged extra staff to clear the mess. If the strike continues and the total garbage exceeds 1000 metric tones, it will take nearly two days to clear.

Meanwhile on day two of the strike as well, there were no talks between the protesting unions and the state government.

To make matters worse, another recognized union of the GHMC, which was not part of the strike, has submitted a strike notice to commissioner U. Gopal. The TRS KV Union has asked for a hike in wages for both outsourced and contract workers from Rs 8500 to Rs 16500.

“In case the state government does not come to terms with our demands, the union will go on strike from 8 pm on the 8th,” said the union president.