Over 400 Thane shopkeepers reach TMC office to protest against trash dumping in front of their shops
Shopkeepers shut their shops after the contractors dumped trash in front of their shops. Picture Courtesy: Shreyash Bubna
Hundreds of shopkeepers across Thane closed their shops on Thursday afternoon after ‘ghanta gadis’ contracted by the civic body dumped trash in front of their premises for failing to pay waste management charges.
According to preliminary information, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) had started levying a daily fee of Rs 25 (approximately Rs 750 per month + Rs 150 tax) on commercial units for solid waste management.
The amount is collected under the ‘Dhan Kachra Seva Shulk Vasoli’ yojna.
“The money was supposed to be utilized for hiring and paying the ghanta gadi contractors for disposing the solid waste from the streets,” a TMC official said.
However, after a majority of shop keepers decided to not pay the fee this time around, the operators visited some of the busiest streets in the city and dumped trash in front of commercial shops.
Contractors dumping thrash in Thane. Picture Courtesy: Shreyash Bubna
“We did not pay the charge because they never clear garbage on time. Nor do we think paying such a high amount to these ghanta gadi operators is fair,” said Akash Chaubey, who operates out of Naupada.
Following the incident, around 400 shopkeepers from Gokhale Road, Hari Niwas, Naupada and Ram Maruti Road closed their shops during business hours and marched towards the TMC headquarters to speak to Commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal.
Another trader who was protesting at the TMC headquarters said that the civic body had started levying the waste management fee last year after claiming that it could not allocate funds for the same from its annual budget.
Further details are awaited.
Contractors dumping trash on the road:
TMC purposely spreading garbage on roads in Gokhale road, Thane @narendramodi @Dev_Fadnavis @SwachhBharatGov @ThaneCityPolice #SwachhBharat pic.twitter.com/w4SeXi76ZB
— Meet Mota (@meetmota) March 23, 2017
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