Ludhiana: Ludhiana’s garbage collection system has run into a fresh crisis after accumulated waste choked the approach to the main dump at Jamalpur, disrupting transportation from secondary collection points and triggering a cascading problem across the city.With movement of garbage-laden vehicles to the dump affected, authorities temporarily stopped accepting waste at compactor machines installed at secondary collection points. Sanitation workers, in turn, began unloading garbage on the ground outside these facilities, raising fears of waste piling up across neighbourhoods if the deadlock continues.The trouble began at Jamalpur, where villagers and residents gathered Thursday on the road leading to the dump to protest against excessive dumping of waste along the approach. Residents complained that garbage had accumulated on both sides of the road, leaving little space for vehicles to pass and creating problems for those living nearby.A senior MC official, requesting anonymity, claimed that around 5,000 tonnes of garbage was currently lying unattended on city roads, amid disruption in waste lifting and a seasonal surge in garbage generation.The official said Ludhiana normally generates around 1,100 tonnes of waste a day, but the figure rises to nearly 1,500 tonnes during this period. Ahead of Diwali, the civic body usually hires additional machinery to cope with the increased load, but no such arrangement was made this time, he claimed.“Ahead of Diwali celebrations, we usually take machinery on rent because the quantum of garbage increases, but this time we have not done the same. Due to the assembly elections, nobody is willing to take responsibility,” the official said.The road blockade at Jamalpur has had an immediate ripple effect on the city’s waste-management chain. With transportation to the main dump disrupted, compactors at secondary collection points remained shut Thursday.Workers associated with the Door-to-Door Mazdoor Ekta Organisation started dumping collected waste on the ground outside compactor sites. They said they had little choice as garbage collected from households still had to be unloaded somewhere.The organisation claimed Ludhiana’s existing waste-handling infrastructure was inadequate for the volume of garbage generated by the city. It said against 95 municipal wards, there were only 32 designated secondary garbage collection points, of which just 23 were functional.Workers also questioned the effectiveness of compactor machines, claiming frequent problems at collection points had repeatedly hampered garbage lifting.Organisation member Sunder Tank said concerns over sanitation infrastructure had repeatedly been raised with the municipal commissioner, mayor, MLAs and councillors. Several representations had also been submitted, but no lasting solution had emerged, he claimed.Frustrated over the situation, workers said they had collectively decided to stop using the compactors and revert to unloading garbage on the ground, from where MC vehicles would have to lift it.The twin problem now leaves the municipal corporation battling a sanitation crisis at both ends of the chain: residents near the Jamalpur dump are opposing waste accumulation along the approach road, while garbage risks piling up at secondary collection points across the city.With an estimated backlog of thousands of tonnes already lying unattended, any prolonged disruption in transportation could worsen the pile-up and create unhygienic conditions in residential areas.Medical officer health Dr Vipal Malhotra could not be contacted for comment.
