GUJRAT: The Gujrat Municipal Corporation (MC) is facing a shortage of at least 500 sanitary workers as well as machinery for its solid waste lifting operations since the city’s boundary was expanded.

At least 45 revenue estates (villages) were included into the corporation’s limits as per the Punjab local government law 2019 after which the city’s population reached 514,000.

As per the government’s rules, at least one sanitary worker was required for 500 people, but currently the corporation only had around 450 sanitary staff, including 350 daily wage workers.

The vehicles and other relevant machinery were also too obsolete, costing the corporation heavily in terms of repair and maintenance.

Former deputy commissioner Dr Khurram Shahzad had sought approval for recruiting at least 500 sanitary workers in March, but the local government department did not give a go-ahead yet, agonising the city’s residents because of poor sanitary conditions in most parts of the city.

The city would often present an ugly picture due to heaps of garbage lying on the streets and roads.

A senior officer of the MC told Dawn that trackers were being installed on all garbage lifting vehicles to reduce the monthly fuel expenditures of the sanitation branch that was currently spending Rs4 million under the head. The figure could reduce by at least a million when movement and mileage of the vehicles was monitored to avoid embezzlement by workers.

He added that the decision had been taken after one vehicle was installed with a tracker last month and the expense on it was reduced encouragingly. Now the MC aimed to bring down the monthly fuel expense to Rs2.5m to Rs3m.

MC Administrator Saif Anwar told Dawn that the civic agency had approved the purchase of at least 120 handcarts. Local elected representatives had also been requested to pursue the respective department to allocate funds for the purchase of new machinery to improve sanitation of the city, he added.

He further said that the inclusion of 45 villages into the limits of the corporation had increased the burden on the staff, which was not even able to perform its original duties due to limited resources.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2020