Sanitation workers protest outside Gopal Rai’s house

Demanding payments and arrears, a large group of workers gathered outside Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra’s residence and raised slogans against him and dumped garbage at his house. Then, we will meet with our MCD officials and demand our money, ‘ said one of the protestor.

“The government is doing nothing. We will call off work for an indefinite period if our demands are not met”, Sanjay Gehlot, president of the Mazdoor Vikas Samyukta Morcha, said. The move has further irked sanitation workers, who say that the government has the funds to get roads clean but no money to pay their salaries.

“While the 91 trucks deployed by Delhi government made 19 trips and managed to lift only 93 metric tonnes of garbage, the strike-hit EDMC and NDMC lifted 934 metric tonnes and 21 metric tonnes of garbage respectively in the last 24 hours”.

“BJP is dumping the garbage everywhere in Delhi”.

“If MCD doesn’t collect tax properly and asks the government to give funds for its staff’s salaries, how will it be possible for the Delhi government?”

Delhi Ministers and AAP lawmakers Sunday launched a cleanliness drive in their respective constituencies and said they will not let the people live amid garbage heaps in the national capital as the strike by civic sanitation workers entered its fifth day. “How can they (government) claim to have paid it already”, he said.

The agitating employees of corporations also staged a protest outside the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“AAP government has brought down budgetary allocation for municipal corporations from 9.3 per cent during our dispensation to 5.98 per cent now”.

Delhi’s civic body was divided into three entities in May 2012, and all three are run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The AAP supremo’s wife will also undergo treatment for some undisclosed ailments, they said, adding that doctors on day-to-day basis will decide on the type of therapy they will undergo.

The Delhi government said on Saturday it has formed a PWD taskforce as part of special arrangements for picking up garbage that has been piling up across the city because of a strike by the employees of three civic bodies.