Members of AE Block Samaj Kalyan Sangha took it upon themselves to clean the Green Verge of their block last Sunday. But despite undertaking the clean-up, they are faced with another problem -- disposal of the litter.
Sangha president Monimoy Saha expressed concern at what he called was “negligence” of the corporation. “The last time they cleaned this area was over six months back. Since then, nothing has been done. Whenever we approach the councillor (Sabyasachi Dutta), we are told that nothing can be done as this area is apparently under the urban development department. So we approached the urban development minister (Firhad Hakim) in early-February but even there we were asked to wait till April for a tender to be floated for the job. Only after that can any action be taken, he told us,” said Saha.
Meanwhile, the rate at which dry leaves are accumulating on the surface of the Green Verge and mosquitoes are breeding, residents are worried about a vector-borne disease outbreak. “We might end up losing a few more lives to mosquito-borne diseases. So we decided not to take any risk. If they won’t do it for us then we will deal with the problem ourselves,” he said.
The residents are unwilling to accept the different ownership excuse. The Green Verge of BE-CE Block, says Sangha general secretary Tapas Sengupta, is also under the urban development department yet it is cleaned regularly. “But for some reason, our Green Verge is routinely ignored,” he said.
Local councillor Sabyasachi Dutta, when contacted by The Telegraph Salt Lake, clarified that the cleaning of the BE-CE Block was maintained by the urban development department. “We cannot get funds sanctioned for clean-up unless it is our area. The urban development department had handed over the roads and parks of Salt Lake to us through proper notification but not these green verges under which water supply and high tension lines pass,” he pointed out.
The AE Block Green Verge was the first of its kind in the township which later inspired similar patches of green in BE-CE blocks.
“About seven-eight years back, during the tenure of councillor Swati Banerjee, our Green Verge was a model one with a musical fountain and manicured walkways,” recalled Sengupta.
Now due to lack of regular maintenance, the place has become a den of mosquitoes which triggered several dengue cases in the area. It is also a haunt of snakes and insects. Negligence towards this particular section of the Green Verge had also increased the number of robberies in the area, residents allege.
Time for action
A heap of collected garbage being dragged out on Sunday afternoon.
On Sunday, it was announced at the start of the drive how the block was becoming prone to all kinds of mosquito-borne diseases. “Therefore, to save lives and provide residents with a safer and cleaner environment, today we have gathered here to do the needful ourselves,” it was said.
The forum had hired about 15 men to help them with the cleaning. Their labour charges and food expenses were borne by the AE Block Samaj Kalyan Sangha. Some of the office-bearers, including the secretary, president and treasurer of the committee, lent them a hand to get rid of all the dried leaves and plastic packets that had littered what was once a ‘green’ verge.
Disposal hurdle
The litter dumped on a pavement outside the Green Verge.
After a clean-up that lasted over 15 hours, the pile of garbage, comprising mostly dried leaves and plastic packets, were accumulated and heaped outside on the footpath in three spots, two by the green verges and one on the canal side. “But the councillor is claiming even the disposal is not the duty of the civic body. We are worried about what might happen if there is a breeze strong enough to blow the leaves away or if the heap catches fire,” said Sengupta.
The block plans to write to the mayor Krishna Chakraborty, the mayoral council member in charge of conservancy Debraj Chakraborty as well as Dutta, the councillor.
Dutta said the block should have notified the corporation about their plans of dumping litter on the pavement. “I saw the situation on Tuesday. I will request my colleague in charge of conservancy. If he agrees to get the job done, it will happen,” he said.
saltlake@abp.in