Motorists’ strike causes stench and leaves trash piled up in Lko

The waste collection process in several areas of the state capital was severely disrupted following a strike by several drivers of waste collection vehicles. Residents across the city have reported that waste is piling up as waste collectors do not visit their homes, creating a health crisis in several areas.

Anju Varshney, a resident of Nehru Enclave, expressed various problems, saying that waste collectors have stopped visiting houses. “After several complaints to the authorities on Thursday, a new employee arrived but did not know the routes and only collected garbage from a few houses before leaving,” she explained.

Complaints poured in across the city as residents worried about the ineffectiveness of replacement workers.

Roop Kumar Sharma, president of the Greater Lucknow Jankalyan Mahasamiti, slammed the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) for its mismanagement. He said the new workers hired by the private company responsible for waste collection are untrained and have no idea of ​​their tasks. “While the main roads are cleaned, the internal roads are completely ignored, leaving many areas unsanitary,” Sharma added.

The crisis deepens as the LMC faces the added challenge of verifying the identity of workers employed by private contractors. Municipal commissioner Inderjit Singh said the LMC, along with other departments, would soon carry out a verification drive to verify the documents of these workers, many of whom are suspected to be illegal immigrants.

An official from a private company revealed that around 10,000 Bangladeshi nationals and Rohingya refugees work in waste collection, including as drivers. An LMC official revealed that many of these people either did not have valid identity documents or had provided false information during recruitment.

Earlier, a letter addressed to the district magistrate by Lucknow Mayor Sushma Kharakwal on December 30, 2024, demanded immediate action to verify voter ID cards and Aadhaar cards of people residing illegally on government land and the along the railway tracks. He urged authorities to identify and expel those found without valid documents to ensure public order.