Tender awarded week ago, pvt firm yet to begin work in Sirsa

Sirsa, April 10

Though the Sirsa civic body awarded the tender for cleaning services in key areas such as Rania Road, Begu Road, Purana Dera Sacha Sauda area, Patel Basti, and Goshala Mohalla to a private firm on April 1, the work is yet to commence.

Residents are facing inconvenience as adequate measures to ensure cleanliness are missing in these areas. The responsibility to ensure cleanliness in 32 Sirsa wards lies with the private firm and the civic body. The municipal council has divided the wards into three segments and it outsources cleaning operations for two segments.

The sanitation work has not commenced in the past nine days due to a transfer of regular sanitation workers to other areas following the tender award for this locality.

Former councillor of Ward Number 19 Neetu Soni has raised concerns regarding the cleanliness situation in the city. In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and other officials, including the local bodies minister, director of the municipal department, district municipal commissioner, and executive officers of the municipal council, Soni highlighted the urgent need for action.

She said despite the allocation of cleaning contracts to private agencies, the sanitation situation remains unsatisfactory. Even after substantial monthly expenditure by the municipality and state government, cleanliness standards have not been met. Soni specifically noted the recent outsourcing of cleaning services to a private company for a portion of the city, which has resulted in a lack of sanitation workers in her ward and deterioration in cleanliness.

Soni emphasised that with garbage accumulating even on significant occasions such as the first day of Navratri, the severity of the situation is evident. She called for immediate formation of a monitoring committee to ensure regular cleanliness in all major markets and areas of the city. Additionally, she urged prompt action against municipal officials and employees hindering the sanitation system.

Meanwhile, regular sanitation workers convened a meeting with Sanitary Inspector Pawan Kamboj to discuss cleanliness arrangements in their respective areas. It was unanimously agreed upon that areas under municipal jurisdiction should receive regular cleaning services.

Sirsa Municipal Council Chief Sanitary Inspector Jai Veer acknowledged the issue raised by the former councillor regarding sanitation service lapses in outsourced areas. He assured prompt action if the outsourcing agency failed to fulfil its cleaning responsibilities.