RAWALPINDI, Nov 11: The sanitation work in the city is in a deplorable state due to shortage of sanitary staff, Dawn has learnt.

The Rawalpindi Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) needs about 1,000 sanitary workers to carry out sanitation work. The total strength of the sanitation staff is 1,753, of whom only 1,100 are permanent and the remaining 653 are daily wage earners.

They are appointed on 89-day contract which is renewed on expiry of the period and are paid Rs100 per day.

The shortage is two-pronged. First is the ban on recruitment for the past six years and secondly 34 new union councils were merged in the TMA, who were part of the district council before the local government system.

Defunct municipal corporation had only 46 union councils and this has increased to 80 after the inclusion of new union councils. No sanitary workers have been appointed in the newly included union councils, official sources said.

Nazims have been given a specific number of sanitation staff according to the need of the area and they are responsible for the cleanliness of their respective union councils, incharge sanitation staff, Dr Mazhar said.

He said existing staff were inadequate for the previous 46 union councils and inclusion of 34 union councils has doubled their burden.

The available staff is first engaged to clean the main roads and bazaars and then they are attached with the nazims who supervise the sanitation work in their respective localities, he said.

The existing staff has been distributed among the union councils on the basis of their areas. The biggest union council 46 has 79 sanitation workers and the small ones have just seven or eight.

Nazims and councillors when asked about the sanitation condition in their respective union councils said, the staff provided to them was insufficient. Some said they have not been provided with any sanitation staff.

Due to the shortage the existing sanitation staff is engaged for extra work on meagre wages. No extra wages are paid for the extra services taken from them.