Let me tell the unwary visitor one thing, Jamshedpur stinks! All this noise about  Swachh Bharat Abhiyan being taken forward with much zeal across the country!  Well,  two important stretches under Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) in the steel city and Adityapur Municipal Council (AMC) in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district stick out like sore thumbs.

The approach road to Adityapur toll bridge from Kadma and the 1km stretch along the Tata-Kandra four-lane in Adityapur have turned into veritable stink zones.

On one side of the road linking Kadma to Adityapur toll bridge is an urban slum called Ramjanam Nagar while the other side has a garbage mound. The 1km stretch is so stinky that people have to cover their noses while crossing the area.

“The foul smell makes me sick whenever I cross the stretch,” Utpal Chatterjee, a resident of Kadma farm area, told some media chaps.

The area falls under the JNAC command area. However, the civic body doesn’t collect garbage from the slum along the road, so the  trash keeps piling up on the other side of the road.

On being prodded by some media chaps, JNAC special officer Sanjay Pandey said, peevishly,  “We will look into the matter.”

Tata Steel subsidiary Jusco cannot provide regular cleaning services to the area as it does not fall under its jurisdiction.

Jusco spokesperson Rajesh Ranjan said, “We are aware about the piled-up garbage along the road. Though the area comes under JNAC, we sometimes remove the trash to keep it clean.”

The service lane along the Tata-Kandra four lane near Sudha Dairy in Adityapur has also turned into a dumping yard making it difficult for cars to negotiate the stretch.

“The Tata-Kandra Road has undergone a major change from December 2012 when it became functional. The only reason behind this is the piling up of garbage that spills onto the service lane,” Arun Gupta, a resident of Adityapur, said.

About three lakh people live in Adityapur area. Earlier, the AMC used to dispose of the waste along the Kharkai river, but has now shifted its dumping site.

AMC special officer Deepak Sahay said, “Dumping of municipal waste along Tata-Kandra Road is a compulsion, but it is a temporary arrangement. Once we get a designated plot, we will stop dumping along the road.”

But the fact remains, the stink isn’t going away any time soon!

[contributed by Akash DungDung, ]

  citizen journalism, Jharkhand