CCC move for a clean city fails
Plan to keep the port city clean in the daytime is yet to see the success as the garbage continues to pile up in the roadside dumping spots throughout the day.
Unaware of the new time, the city dwellers start disposing of their household garbage as usual in the morning and leave the litters in heaps to give off bad odour, causing serious problem to the passers-by as well as themselves.
Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) took the initiative on March 1 for cleaning the dustbins and dumping spots from 8:00pm to 4:00am to make it a clean city.
CCC also asked the city dwellers to keep their household wastages on the designated spots or dustbins between 4:00pm and 8:00pm everyday.
But, for lack of proper publicity about the new time to dump garbage went in vain.
There are some 1,243 dustbins and 36 iron containers in 41 wards of the 60square kilometre city, said the CCC sources.
While visiting different city areas in the last few days this correspondent found garbage piling up and giving off bad odour at all the dustbins in and around Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Dewan Bazar, OR Nizam Road, Firingee Bazar, Chawk Bazar, Momin Road, Station Road, Reazuddin Bazar, Kadamtali, Halishahar, Agrabad Access Road, Choumuhani and Pathantuli Road.
Moshfiqur Rahman Tipu, a schoolteacher, said most of the city dwellers are not aware of the new schedule for dumping the household wastage due to lack of proper campaign by the authorities concerned.
“People are yet to know the new timetable for disposing of the wastes,” said Rehana Akter, a resident of Halishahar.
“If there is a proper publicity and a motivation campaign then city dwellers are sure to help the new efforts to keep the city clean during the daytime,” said Nasima Parvin, a housewife of the same area.
CCC acting mayor M Manjur Alam said that they are working hard to make the initiative successful. He said they have given advertisements in the newspapers before introducing the new schedule for disposal of garbage.
He, however, said awareness and cooperation of the city dwellers are needed to make the initiative a success. 'We have already achieved some success in this regard,' he added.
Sources at the CCC Conservancy Department said for lack of sufficient number of vehicles they hardly can cope with the growing quantity of garbage. The situation aggravates during the summer when leftovers of seasonal fruits make an additional volume of garbage.
CCC needs around 80 dump trucks for removing around 1600 tonnes of garbage the city produces everyday, they said.
CCC Executive Engineer (Maintenance) M Malek said at present CCC has 15 to 20 dumping vehicles of its own and hires 35 trucks to collect and remove the garbage.
Seven of them are used in the daytime for emergency work, Malek said.
Acting mayor said they have sent a proposal to the LGRD ministry for procuring 25 more dumping trucks.
He said CCC at its 31st general meeting in January decides to conduct its garbage disposal work locally. He said they would start it initially at ten wards from the first week of next month.
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