Heaps of garbage, overflowing drains in Ara even during Durga Puja

Kumar Rajiv Nayan

Ara: Even as Dussehara has begun, Ara Municipal Corporation (AMC) has failed to clean the town so far. The apathy of the municipal authorities has created unhygienic condition in the town threatening outbreak of epidemics. Overflowing drains, heaps of garbage, broken culverts, dry taps and damaged lanes and bylanes hardly move the municipal body. Yet neither the local MP nor the MLA is taking any interest in improving the poor condition.

The Puja organizers are facing problem of insanitary condition in every part of Ara town though locals are doing their bit to remove filth and garbage and cleaning the choked drains. But, this exercise has adversely affected some areas where the garbage is being dumped recklessly. The only fogging machine is laying useless though the Civil Surgeon and the Deputy development commissioner (DDC) have asked wrote to the Municipal Commissioner to start fogging in Ara town.

Roadside vendors however, are enjoying a free run. After laying siege to most of the footpaths and pavements in the heart of the town, they now have spilled on to the roads with their wares. Traffic jams have become common. Handcart vendors and rickshawpullers have converted the main roads into a parking zones. Passing through the on-the-road vegetable markets has become difficult. One never knows when a stray cattle would hit a pedestrian.

AMC commissioner Pramod Kumar, who took charge a month back, admits cleaning the town is not an easy task. The shortage of staff and scavengers has added to his woes. This reporter visited several areas and found heaps of garbage and overflowing drains in these areas. The dirt and filth all around have made the surroundings conducive to mosquitoes to breed.

With the AMC pushing all its resources to clean city main roads, the localities on the fringe remain neglected, said professor Vikramaditya Singh, a resident of Tilak Nagar. Sanitation workers are a rare sight in the areas, complained the locals, who had to pull money to hire sanitation workers and rid the locality of the two overflowing bins of garbage. But, Municipal commissioner Pramod Kumar and  Mayor Sunil Kumar claimed things would improve in a couple of days.