Garbage along Kestopur canal raises dengue worry in Salt Lake
Times of India | 22 May 2024
Kolkata: A long stretch of the Kestopur canal-side pavement in Salt Lake is in a sorry state for a long time with garbage and waste strewn across many places, making locals fret over the matter. They said that if not cleaned up soon, these spots will soon turn into potential dengue hot spots.
Locals said that pavement stretch outside the fencing has turned into an easy ground for dumping waste.TOI on Tuesday found several stretches on the canal side full with plastic bottles, discarded paper cups, open coconut shells and heaps of dry leaves and other waste at several places.
Residents of houses on the canal-side road said that the heaps of garbage piling up is not only increasing the risk of breeding of dengue-carrying mosquitoes, it is also becoming a safe haven for snakes and poisonous insects.
“Only a few days ago, a snake had entered a house next to ours. The canal-side pavement stretch is full of garbage and most of the time we get a stinking smell from there. We have been facing this problem for a long time. There has been no action from the local civic authorities to clean up the mess,” said a resident of AE Block.
Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities said that there was nothing much they could do as the stretch was under the forest department’s jurisdiction. “The pavement stretch of the canal side belongs to the forest dept,” said a BMC official.
On the other hand, a forest dept official said that a few portions of the canal-side pavement, where the wildlife animal rescue centre is located, was under their jurisdiction but it needed to be checked whether the entire stretch was under them. The officials said a letter was even sent to the local civic authorities with requests to clean up the garbage.
BMC authorities said that they were already facing an uphill task to properly dispose the daily generated solid waste as many of the old trucks carrying waste to Dhapa dumping ground have been abandoned and discarded. The civic authorities were planning to procure new waste carrying trucks.