Drivers' strike leaves Ghaziabad stinking

Ghaziabad's waste could not be cleared for a second straight day on Friday as Ghaziabad's muncipal drivers remained on strike.

In a bid to break the strike, Mayor Ashu Verma allowed the recruitment of more drivers to lift the city waste and also told the councillors to use their personal drivers for the same task.

On Friday, when the councillors reached the garage with their personal drivers, the municipal drivers locked the main gate and staged a protest at the entrance.

The Mayor instructed the municipal commissioner to call the police which lifted the siege. But the personal drivers failed to drive the vehicles.

The Mayor told reporters that Ghaziabad generates over 700 tonnes of solid waste. The municipal drivers, under the pretext of eight hours duty, failed to lift the entire waste.

The municipal corporation incurs an expenditure of about Rs 20 crore per month on diesel, vehicle maintenance and salaries of drivers. But the city remains unclean.

--IANS

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