Sanitary workers facing tougher job of clearing accumulated garbage

It will take at least two days for them to clear it completely, says Corporation official

Garbage accumulated for four days finally started leaving the streets of Madurai on Wednesday morning, as the ‘indefinite strike’ by Corporation sanitary workers was called off on Tuesday night, much to the relief of the public.

D. Annapoorani, a resident of Ponmeni, said the intrinsic role these workers played in the daily lives of the people was strongly felt only during their absence. “The stench was unbearable as all the waste collected from the four houses in our compound lay in covers for four days and I was deeply relieved that the sanitary workers have returned to work,” she said.

Many areas in city such as all Masi streets, roads near Periyar Bus Stand, South Marret Street, 80 Feet Road in K.K. Nagar, streets in Villapuram, roads surrounding Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple and Azhagarkoil Road were witnessing overflowing dumper bins as the routine waste collection was disrupted for a few days.

Saraswathi, a Corporation contract sanitary worker for 10 years, said her job started at 6 a.m. and ended by 2 p.m., but the work on Wednesday seemed never-ending due to excess waste that was to be cleared.

“There is double the quantity of waste at every house and it is back-breaking to lift and empty the waste bins onto our vehicle. The highest quantity of garbage we collected in an individual house today was 10 buckets of waste,” she said.

Having 1,200 houses on her list, she said it was going to be tough for them for a couple of days to completely clear the stagnant garbage.

“While some people knew the reason for our absence, some asked us why we were not working or whether we took days off, unaware of our strike. Many residents supported our demands and said we deserved the pay and other benefits that we demanded, and it was reassuring,” she said.