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No changing room for women sanitation workers!

Mangaluru: The workers collecting garbage under the ‘Swacch Mangaluru’ concept are facing several problems from a few years, but the local administration has remained mum over it. Women sanitation workers, who work daily from morning to evening, are devoid of basic facilities and the situation is so bad that they are compelled to change their clothes on the road side.

Antony waste management company is the contracting company for garbage management here and has provided its workers with uniform, but no room facility has been provided, either by Antony or by the corporation, for the workers to change their clothes.

There are more than 80 garbage collection vehicles in the city and almost 800 people are employed. Of them, more than 170 are women sanitation workers who give their service daily. A few women wear their uniforms at their homes itself and report to work. But in the evening when they are returning back home, their uniform will be pretty dirty. Since it is not possible to travel in the bus wearing the dirty clothes, the workers are compelled to change their clothes. Besides, there is no proper restroom facility for the workers as well.

No yard to park vehicles

During the night, there is no parking yard for the garbage collection vehicles to be parked. Now, the vehicles are parked in tens at various locations in the city. Initially the vehicles were being parked at the yard in Kuloor but following opposition from the locals, the vehicles are now parked in tens at various locations in the city including Surathkal, Pachanady, Kavoor, Mallikatte, Mannagudda, Kankanady, Mangaladevi and other areas. Due to the obnoxious smell, locals tend to get into a fight.

Ward office locked

Ward offices are there for every ward, but their utilization is not for the sanitation workers. According to a worker, “In the morning when the workers report for work, the ward office door will be locked, hence it cannot be used. Due to this reason, clothes need to be changed behind the vehicles or on the road side,” he explains.

Year has passed since a letter to the head

Almost a year back, the heads of Antony Company had visited Mangaluru and listened to the requests of the workers. On that occasion, the workers were assured that their issues will be resolved.  They had said that they will discuss the workers problem on a monthly basis. But the heads have not returned since a year, the problems persist.

Proper action

“The problems being faced by the sanitation workers working in the garbage collection vehicles will be taken seriously. In that too, I will take proper action and speak with the corporation commissioner in regard to providing proper room facility for women sanitation workers to change their clothes,” assured Sasikanth Senthil, Deputy Commissioner