Khulna City Corporation keeps dumping garbage on busy road
In a blatant disregard for public health and environment, Khulna City Corporation has been dumping garbage on a part of Boyra bypass road for a long time.
The KCC authorities have been using the spot -- half the road (Jalil Sarani) and the entire footpath adjacent to it -- as a secondary transfer station (STS) for garbage.
The place stretching around 100ft remains covered with piles of waste almost all the time. It is not enclosed, spreading filth and emitting putrid stench to the nearby areas.
Locals said the garbage is not taken from there everyday. Such a situation has been continuing for around three years, they said.
KCC Conservancy Officer Anisur Rahman however said, "We collect garbage twice from STS every day."
Jalil Sarani is one of the three major roads to enter and exit Khulna city.
Palash Uddin Khalifa, an assistant professor of Khulna Public College living in Boyra area, told The Daily Star that more than 1,000 students using the road suffer the most.
Locals appealed to the ward councillor concerned seeking a stop to dumping of garbage there, but to no avail.
"Stray dogs and crows always scavenge for food there, spreading the garbage," said Tonmoy Bairagi, 13, a student of Children's Voice School, who uses the road on a regular basis.
"Dogs often attack me when I pass through the spot," he added.
Md Juboraj, a KCC worker who collects garbage from households by rickshaw-van and piles there, told The Daily Star that they do so as there is no secondary transfer station near the place.
During a recent visit to the spot, this correspondent found KCC employees of its conservancy department piling garbage. Leftover, used polythene bags and other household waste were left scattered on the road and pavement. Pedestrians and commuters were passing the spot after covering their noses. Many were forced to use alternative road.
Just opposite the spot, the deputy director's office of the fisheries department and air testing centre of the environment department are situated. Around 10 educational institutions exist in Boyra including Khulna Public School and College, Khulna Government Model School and College, Children's Voice School, Hazi Foiz Uddin Girls' High School, and Khanjahan Ali College of Science and Technology.
Boyra Bazar and Boyra Kitchen market is just 200 metres off the garbage dumping spot.
Contacted, Anisur Rahman Biswas, councillor of ward-16, said, "I am aware of locals' concern over the matter. But we have no option for now."
"Already a Tk 434 crore project has been sanctioned for the city's garbage management in which land acquisition is included for a new STS in the area," he said.
Anisur Rahman, the conservancy officer, said, "We are looking for land to set up a STS. The problem will be resolved after the project is implemented."
Comments