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Pourakarmikas in Mysuru have struck work and joined an indefinite agitation launched across the State on Friday demanding regularisation of their services.
The strike affected cleanliness services with the collection of solid wastes hit and the impact of the strike could be largely felt from Saturday with the drivers of auto-tippers that transport solid wastes also joining the strike.
More than 1,500 pourakarmikas in Mysuru have joined the State-wide indefinite strike.
As cleanliness services have come to a halt since Friday morning with the pourakarmikas staging demonstration in front of the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) office, the officials at the MCC are preparing for the real impact of the strike as they are struggling to manage the situation with about 530 permanent pourakarmikas, who are reported to have not joined the strike.
Waste thrown in the markets here hasn’t been picked up and they would start stinking from Saturday with heaps of vegetable and fruit wastes continuing to amass.
The MCC has around 2,130 pourakarmikas and 530 among them are permanent. Officials at the MCC said these 530 pourakarmikas cannot go on strike as they come under the MCC rules and therefore all of them are working despite the strike.
The MCC may face challenges in handling the crisis triggered from the strike as the city alone generates nearly 400 tonnes of garbage and it would be realistically difficult to clear the solid wastes with about 30 per cent of the pourakarmikas.
“The 500-plus pourakarmikas are working in the city’s core areas. The actual effect of the strike could be felt only from tomorrow with a large collection of solid wastes. We are working out measures on how to handle the situation if the strike continues. Yet, it will be challenging to handle the situation with a limited number of civic workers,” a senior MCC official said.
