HISAR: Tension prevailed at ITI Chowk in Hisar on Thursday as an administrative team arrived to resume garbage collection amid a 22-day strike by sanitation workers, with a video showing garbage being thrown during a confrontation between police personnel and protesting workers.The latest standoff came as the administration deployed municipal workers and other staff to carry out door-to-door garbage collection and clear the waste that has accumulated across the city during the prolonged strike.Hisar DSP Kishori Lal said around 50-60 protesting workers were detained after they allegedly prevented teams from leaving for door-to-door garbage collection.“The people who were supposed to collect garbage door-to-door were not allowed to leave as they were protesting. Nagar Nigam workers and other staff were on duty, and with their help, everyone was detained,” Lal said.He said police reached the spot around 7.30 am and asked the protesting workers not to obstruct the vehicles being used for garbage collection.“They did not listen, so we peacefully detained them in buses. Our duty is not to spoil the situation; we are doing our duty properly and working for the public. We will continue to do so,” the DSP said.The confrontation is the latest flashpoint in the sanitation workers’ prolonged agitation in Haryana.In Hisar, more than 3,600 tonnes of garbage had accumulated across the city by the 22nd day of the strike, according to municipal officials. Earlier, police and municipal authorities had launched clearance operations at ITI Chowk, where protesting workers opposed the movement of JCBs and garbage-collection vehicles.A confrontation between women sanitation workers and police had also taken place during an earlier clearance drive. Police alleged that some protesting workers threw garbage at personnel and detained them.The agitation has also led to confrontations in other parts of Haryana.The mounting garbage has meanwhile become a major civic concern. Municipal authorities have argued that accumulated waste needs to be cleared to prevent inconvenience to residents and address sanitation and public health concerns.The protesting workers, however, have opposed the administration’s attempts to use agency workers and municipal staff to bypass the strike.
