Nalkheda (Madhya Pradesh): Piling heaps of garbage, clogged drains and littered roads—the ongoing strike by sanitation workers of Badagaon municipal council in Nalkheda over unpaid salaries has disrupted civic services across the town since Sunday and forced residents to live in unhygienic conditions.
More than 70 employees of the municipal council are on a strike to protest against the non-payment of salaries for the past seven months.
The strike has hampered sanitation services and water supply in several wards. Local residents have complained of garbage accumulating at major locations like main roads, bus stands, Gandhi Chowk and Khedapati Hanuman Bawdi.
Drains can be seen overflowing after not being cleaned for nearly eight days at multiple locations in Badgaon.
Local residents Sunil Rana and Dilip Agrawal said they are facing a severe drinking water shortage and unhygienic conditions due to the ongoing strike. They urged the municipal administration to resolve the employees’ demands quickly so that regular civic services could resume.
Several ward councillors have also supported the striking employees and have urged the municipal council to release their pending salaries at the earliest.
District president of the Municipal Body Employees Union in Agar Malwa Lal Singh Yadav said that employees have demanded payment of pending salaries, removal of alleged fake employees from records and action in an assault case involving municipal staff.
OFFICIAL SPEAK: Chief Municipal Officer Prem Shankar Parmar said the council has offered to pay one month’s salary immediately and promised further payments soon. However, employees have continued their strike.
