Door-to-door trash collection has hit a stumbling block in Adityapur Municipal Corporation (AMC) area with drivers of garbage trucks striking work to protest a delay in salary payment.

Rotting filth are piling up in houses since 35 drivers stopped work five days ago.

“We used to get our salary on the 16th of every month, but this month we have not yet received our payment. We therefore went on a strike to mount pressure on the authorities,” one of the drivers told this correspondent on the condition of anonymity.

The driver said they would resume duty only after getting their monthly salary without which they were facing difficulty in meeting household expenses.

The residents expressed their resentment at the civic body’s failure to lift garbage from their doorstep even after charging them for the service.

“The AMC staff used to collect the trash from my house every day, but they have stopped coming since the past five days. Waste are piling up in my house and the stench is unbearable at times,” said Anirudh Prasad, a resident of MIG colony in Adityapur.

Confirming the strike, AMC city manager Jitendra Kumar said they were trying to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

“We have told the drivers that their salaries would be paid by the contractor soon and are trying to persuade them to resume work,” Kumar told The Telegraph.

Kumar said there were about 38,000 households in AMC area.

“We collect trash from each of these houses every day. The accumulated waste is carried to a dumping yard at Bagunhatu in Sidhgora. Earlier, we used to face problems in dumping municipal waste in AMC area. We faced protests by local residents. But now that problem has been resolved,” Kumar said.

The city manager said they charged Rs 50-80 per house per month for collecting garbage.

“Residents have every right to complain about the disruption in service because they are paying for it,” he added.

Adityapur Municipal Corporation area has a population of 2.5 lakh spread across 35 wards.

Every day five truck-loads of municipal waste is generated by people in the corporation area.