Hyderabad: Despite ban, garbage burning goes on

Hyderabad: People are still complaining about garbage being burnt in the open in several locations in the city such as Balanagar, Uppal and Nampally, even though the Telangana state government banned this polluting practice last year. 

Burning garbage is a crime in Telangana state and could attract a fine of up to Rs 25,000. However, because municipal garbage collection vehicles do not pick up garbage regularly, as they should, the corporation’s own staff is burning the garbage which has accumulated. 

Ms D. Manorama, a resident of Balanagar, says, due to irregular visits of swachh auto tippers, huge piles of garbage accumulate in several areas. “Since complaints of mosquitoes have been pouring in, the helpless sanitation staff has been burning the garbage. The GHMC people themselves dump the garbage at the site and then burn the garbage pile,” she said.

Echoing their concern, K. Srinivas Reddy of Uppal says, “While the population of the area has increased rapidly in the past five years, civic services have not kept pace with this increase and the GHMC has failed on this count. Those who dump the waste in vacant sites are mostly from the restaurants and poultry shops situated on the main roads. Of late the corporation staff has been burning the garbage in the name of keeping the premises clean.”

 When this matter was brought to the notice of the higher authorities, they claimed that staff has been very busy in election work. 

It seems pointless making laws that the government itself then violates.