Belal Hossain Reaz, Nangalkot (Cumilla)

Garbage is being dumped on the side of the main road and railway line of the Nangalkot municipality in Comilla. The suffering is increasing day by day due to constant garbage dumping, especially on both sides of the busy road.

Local people complain that they are not getting any relief from the concerned administration. The problem is gradually getting bigger. After talking to some of the victims, it was learned that Nangalkot is a first-class municipality. There are practically no civic facilities in the municipality. Cleanliness is not visible in the city. In this situation, garbage is being dumped everywhere. However, garbage is constantly being brought from different areas of the municipality and piled up in huge piles on both sides of the main road and adjacent to the Dhaka-Chittagong railway line. As a result, school students and pedestrians have to cover their faces and walk.

Aminulhaq, a local resident of Nangalkot Municipality, said that he has to travel to and from this road for various needs. Padna Hospital is next to it, and patients have to be brought to the hospital through this road every day. But the stench of the garbage is making the hospital patients sicker. Abdur Rahim, a staff member at the hospital, said that if you go to the right, there is a bad smell. If you go to the left, there is a bad smell. The stench hits your nose. Then you get upset. Then you hold your nose and try to leave the place quickly. In this situation, it is not possible for anyone to travel normally in the municipality. The stench emanating from the pile of garbage in the garbage dump spreads far and wide. As a result, the normal movement of people in business and residential areas has become a burden.

Rizwan Islam, a ninth-grade student of a school in the municipality, said that we have to travel through this road to school and the stench fills our stomachs. Then nothing feels good anymore. Even if you want to go through another road, the situation is the same. After investigation, it was found that the number of cleaning workers of the municipality is 14. Basically, those cleaning workers are throwing garbage in the open. Local residents and businessmen are also throwing garbage. Not only is the stench spreading from each dump, but it has also become a safe habitat for mosquitoes and flies. Especially when it rains, the problem becomes bigger. Then the garbage spreads around. Due to the garbage, the rainwater cannot move in any direction, and knee-deep water accumulates on the road. In this situation, there is no other authority visible to make the municipality free from garbage.

Municipal Secretary Harunar Rashid said that the municipality has no income and the fund is empty. There is no specific government place for dumping garbage. There is also no necessary government allocation for this. A lot of money is needed to buy a place for dumping. Basically, the problem is getting bigger because there is no permanent place to remove garbage. He also said that many people throw garbage in polythene bags on the side of the road. It does not occur to them for once how big a problem this is for the common people. The government will take the initiative to remove the garbage by throwing the necessary garbage and taking it to a safe place.

In this regard, Nangalkot Upazila Nirbahi Officer Suraiya Akhter Lucky acknowledged the public suffering and said that if there is anything to be done on the part of the upazila administration, she will definitely try to do it. She also said, I am looking for a safe place to dump garbage. I will move away from that place by leaving a safe place for dumping.