Guwahati: Garbage piles up in Bhetapara, Ajanta Path as GMC collection system falters

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: What should have been a routine civic service has turned into a daily ordeal for residents of Bhetapara and Ajanta Path, where uncollected garbage is piling up on roadsides and around community bins, raising serious questions over the Guwahati Municipal Corporation’s (GMC) waste-management system.

With garbage allegedly remaining unattended for days, overflowing bins have become a common sight in the areas. Residents say the situation has become particularly unbearable during the summer months, when accumulated household waste quickly becomes a source of foul odour, insects and unhygienic surroundings.

Photographs of overflowing garbage bins in the locality paint a grim picture of the ground reality, despite repeated claims of strengthening the city’s door-to-door garbage collection mechanism. Garbage management has long remained one of Guwahati’s persistent civic challenges. In an attempt to ensure regular and timely collection, the GMC outsourced door-to-door waste collection to agencies, including NGOs. However, residents allege that the system has failed to deliver consistently, with collection schedules frequently disrupted.

A Bhetapara resident told The Sentinel that irregular garbage collection had become a recurring problem in the locality. According to the resident, households are often forced to keep their waste for several days before collection vehicles arrive.

“The garbage collection is not regular. Sometimes the waste remains for days. In this heat, the situation becomes unbearable because of the smell and the unhygienic surroundings,” the resident said.

Residents of Ajanta Path have also reportedly been facing similar problems, with overflowing bins and waste scattered around collection points adding to the civic mess. Beltola resident Krishna Thakur said the problem was not a recent one and questioned the monitoring mechanism of the agencies entrusted with household waste collection.

“On the surface, the agencies may appear responsible for the lapses, but the larger question is who is monitoring their work and who is finally accountable. Ultimately, the GMC is responsible for ensuring that the system works,” he said.

He further criticised the gap between announcements and implementation.

“Announcements of ambitious plans and frequent social media updates cannot substitute for implementation. The existing system needs to work on the ground,” he added. The recurring lapses have once again brought the GMC’s monitoring mechanism under scrutiny. While private agencies and NGOs may be entrusted with collection, residents maintain that outsourcing cannot mean outsourcing accountability.

For residents, the issue is no longer merely about an overflowing garbage bin. It is about a basic civic service that they expect to receive every day.

As unattended waste continues to accumulate in parts of Bhetapara and Ajanta Path, the stench of garbage is fast becoming an unwelcome signature of the neighbourhoods — a grim “welcome address” greeting residents at their own doorsteps.

With the city already grappling with multiple sanitation and waste-management challenges, residents are now demanding immediate intervention from the GMC and strict monitoring of the agencies responsible for collection.

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