Hyderabad: A delay in paying salaries has led to more than 100 persons who collect garbage from open points in lorries to call for a strike. Around 300 tonnes of garbage can be seen lying on various streets of the Secunderabad Cantonment for the last two days. On Wednesday, the employees staged a protest at the Trimulgherry dumping yard.
Secunderabad Cantonment Board Contract Workers Union president M. Narsimha said, “It’s the contractors who pay us salaries. When we ask for the reason for the delay, they say they did not receive their bills for the last five months from the Cantonment Board. We cannot work without salaries. The board should intervene and release funds immediately for this purpose. If not, we are not going to be on duty till the time our salaries are credited.”
The Secunderabad Cantonment has 20 private lorries and around 100 contractual employees to pick garbage from open points after garbage collectors collect it from colonies.
Each lorry transports around five tonnes of garbage and makes three trips a day, which amounts to 300 tonnes for 20 lorries in two days. However, with the strike of the employees, that entire process has come to a halt and the garbage is lying on the roads for the last couple of days, giving off a foul smell.
When contacted, a contractor said, “We are not getting any funds from the Board since the last five months. We have taken it upon ourselves and are paying salaries to the staff. But now, we cannot bear the burden.”
He said the contractors had put up bills for three months. According to an SCB official, the Assembly elections were the cause for the delay in salaries.
The official said, “As Chief Executive Officer S.V.R. Chandrashekar Rao was the returning officer during elections, there was no time to look after these issues due to his busy schedule. The pending files are likely to be moved now.”
