Today I am writing about something that the media failed to cover, or maybe this is not a breaking issue for them. In Hanumangarh district, a family is sitting on a dharna against the municipality. The family alleges that the employees of the municipality dump all the garbage collected from the city in their locality, due to which the foul smell and filth coming from the city have made life difficult for them and their family. His children are very young, and his wife is an ordinary woman. They are agitating against the municipal authorities and fighting their battle all alone. No one bothered to notice them, no one even wanted to know what the matter was.
The victim decided to sit on the dharna after the municipality president threatened him with being arrested by the police.
Even after the protest, the employees of the municipality did not desist, so he went to the municipal president, Sukhchain Singh Ramana, with a complaint about the matter, but his complaint was not heard even there; on the contrary, the officials misbehaved with him. They threatened him with the consequences of going to Jail. Angered by this, the victim and the whole family sat on a dharna in front of the office. The officials come out of the cabin, abuse him, and go. Some threaten him, and some just ignore him, but no one has time to look into the basic request of the family.
One day he reached the house of Municipality President Sukhchain Singh Ramana, where he was manhandled and abused, which hurt his wife and three children. Together, they all made many peels, but the officers were rude to his family. The case pertains to Ward 21 of Pilibanga in the district, where the victim, Bharat Bhushan, lives with his family. The victim alleges that the employees of the municipality collect the entire garbage of the city and dump it in his locality. Due to which the garbage gets accumulated in front of his house for the whole day. Due to this, there is a constant risk of spreading infections and diseases among children.
According to the report, the entire family sat on a dharna last night, but the municipality president or one of his representatives came to take care of them. The victim’s family is still sitting on dharna. The victim said that he decided to sit on the dharna after the municipality president threatened him with being arrested by the police. Today, land, water, and air have become polluted. Garbage is dumped in open spaces. Large factories emit a lot of smoke. Due to dust particles in the smoke, the air becomes contaminated. In addition to the spread of foul odor, germs also breed in rotting trash, leading to various diseases.
Mosquitoes, flies, and mice find fertile breeding grounds in mounds of waste. Garbage from households’ waste creates health hazards. Increasing garbage in the home, outside has aggravated the problem of air pollution. Municipal facilities are not available in many areas. Bharat Bhushan has raised a question about the stink of garbage piling up at his door. In a letter to the Pilibangan Municipal Corporation, he highlighted the problem of Municipal contractors dumping waste in his area.
The municipality is picking up the waste regularly from the surrounding area and dumping it right in front of his house, so much so that it has started to pile up. The waste has oil, grease, plastic, and other things, making it a health hazard. He has two young children, and they need to be protected. The arrogance and unreasonable behavior were reported, but instead of helping the family, the authorities threatened the whistleblower. If we, the citizens, take note of such things, or support such agitations in whatever capacity we can, Bharat Bhushan like fighters against the system can get justice.
Unfortunately, his voice is choked, and his hands are tied. His family is with him, but he alone cannot really fight against municipal atrocities. It’s the need of the hour that we all hold these authorities accountable and make our surroundings worth living in.
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