A Correspondent
Dibrugarh: The passengers alighting at the Old Dibrugarh Railway Station are not greeted by the sight of hawkers selling colourful products or hoardings promoting the historic town. Instead, the poor passengers are subjected to a truckload of filth and dirt, that is to say, a pathetically-managed municipality dustbin.
The structure, placed right across one of the gates of the station, has long been a bugbear for the locals and the passengers alike. Heaps of garbage strewn around the dustbin is a common sight, attracting all sorts of pesky flies. The matter, serious as it is, has been brought to the notice of the Dibrugarh Municipal Board (DMB) many times, but to no avail. At best, one can see a mini-truck carrying the garbage to the landfill from time-to-time. But, what about the emanation of the unimaginable foul smell that follows, asks the people whose residences are at a stone’s throw from the site of the dustbin.
A teacher of Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya, Subhamoy Bose, who is also one of the worst sufferers, remarks, “My neighbourhood has been flagging the matter for long. Many complaints have been made with DMB, but things haven’t changed an ounce. The situation is alarming to say the least, as it renders the entire locality unhygienic. Moreover, the dustbin has also been a cause behind many road accidents due to its ill-conceived placement along the turning of the RKB road.”
Talking to The Sentinel, several locals reacted with a sense of frustration and anger. Pointing out to another less-frequently used dustbin which was located at a short distance, they questioned as to why DMB could not use that dustbin for dumping waste. They, at the same time, demanded the dustbin to be shifted away from the residential space.