Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Sept 25: Around 200 SMC trucks have suspended their services for want of fuel leaving heaps of garbage lying on the roadsides across Srinagar city.
Huge piles of garbage have accumulated on roads in various localities over last several days as the garbage collecting trucks are not in the service.
The trucks have gone off the roads after a petrol pump owner stopped refuelling the vehicles as the Government owes over Rs 80 lakhs to him.
The garbage is collected on daily basis from house to house and after that the collected garbage is put at one place from which the trucks take it to the concerned dumping site. However, the non-operationalization of the trucks has left these locations stinking.
A senior official at SMC has said that the Chief Accounts Officer has been on leave from last one month and in absence of an alternative, the outstanding amount of the petrol pump owner piled up to around Rs 80 lakhs.
Commissioner SMC Gazanfar Ali also confirmed that there has been an outstanding amount in around Rs 80 lakhs on account of the filling of the fuel to the trucks. He said that there are more 175 trucks that lift the garbage every day.
“Due to the non-availability of the Chief Accounts Officer who was on leave from last one month, the outstanding to the petrol pump owner has piled up and he stopped filling the trucks,” he said
He also said that the Government has issued orders giving additional charge of CAO to Rafiq Ahmad Shah who has joined the duties.
“Now that the message has gone to the petrol pump owner that CAO has joined, he will resume filling from Saturday,” the Commissioner said.
He assured that the normal services of the garbage collecting trucks will resume from tomorrow.
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