LUCKNOW: A flash strike by sanitary workers in zone 6 on Friday resulted in piles of garbage on various roads and in colonies.
The workers of Ecogreen Energy, the company hired by Lucknow Municipal Corporation to handle waste management in the city, are demanding salary pending for four months. After intervention by senior officials of LMC, they promised to resume work from Saturday.
Because of the strike, around 150 tonnes of garbage remained uncollected in Dubbaga, Balaganj, Thakurganj, and Chowk. Heaps of garbage piled up on roads with stray animals and insects hovering over them. The strike has hampered the lifting of garbage from collection points as well as door-to-door collection.
“There was a foul smell all day from the heap of garbage outside my house,” said Ravi Mishra, a resident of Balaganj. “Ecogreen employees come on time to collect user charge but for garbage collection, they make excuses every other day,” said Sudhir Dikshit. Employees said their salaries have been pending since April and despite repeated requests, officials are delaying it.
“We have to come here using our own conveyance. School fee of our children is pending. The company should understand our issues and release salary immediately,” said Basanti Kumari, a driver.
Chief operations officer of Ecogreen Rajesh Kurup said, “We have resolved the matter with employees and they have come back to work. We are conscious that such incidents don’t happen again.”
