T-Congress Flays KCR On Municipal Staff Strike

The Leader of the Opposition in the Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir strongly criticized the TRS government for not taking any concrete measures to end the indefinite strike by the municipal employees, which entered its fifth day on Friday.

Addressing a press conference in the Assembly premises Friday, Shabbir Ali said that the ongoing strike had turned Hyderabad into a garbage bin.

"Contrary to his claims of turning the new city into Dallas and the Old City into Istanbul, KCR has made the city the garbage capital of India. Though nearly 18,000 tonnes of garbage are lying scattered across the city's streets, the Chief Minister has taken no measures to end the strike. On the other side, the taps in many areas have gone dry due to the strike by the water supply and sewerage board employees. Complaints of overflowing sewerages have been pouring in from several areas.

"Why has Governor E S L Narasimhan not visited the area which he adopted in the Swachh Hyderabad campaign? The ruling party leaders, celebrities and others have used the occasion as a photo-opportunity and vanished after the media photographers clicked their pictures," he said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and KCR had used the Swachh campaigns as just tools for publicity.

Shabbir Ali feared that the accumulated garbage could pose a serious threat to the health and lives of the general public. He said that there were unconfirmed reports of dengue cases from the Rajender Nagar area.

"A small drizzle will deteriorate the conditions if the garbage is not lifted immediately," he said.

Shabbir Ali said that the Congress fully supported the demands of the 42,000 municipal employees, including those of the contract employees. He asked the Chief Minister to convene a meeting immediately and take the required steps to resolve the problem.

He said that the Congress party workers, including the NSUI, Seva Dal, Youth Congress and other frontal organizations' workers, would take the people's support to clear the accumulated garbage in areas prone to health hazards. (NSS)