Dinesh Kamath's news item 'NMMC has tough time tackling careless workers' that was published in Newsband

NMMC has tough time tackling careless workers

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI:  NMMC had taken pains to cover many open drains on the footpaths of the city. But it was found that in a short time, many covers were found missing or broken. Hence the NMMC authorities now find the need of deputing a staff to keep a watch on these covers. They have a doubt that these damages are caused by the workers who in order to fight malaria lift the covers of these drains but when they place them back they don’t seem to take necessary cautions. These workers are normally those who are given the task of fogging and anti-larval activities. Even when a particular ward officer was pulled up for the damage of the covers, he put the blame on these workers.

The thing is these workers are chosen by the contractors who don’t supervise the works while they are being done. That is the reason why these workers tend to be irresponsible and cause damages leading to monetary loss for NMMC.

Due to these broken covers existing on the footpaths, it is the pedestrians who have to pay a price. The footpaths are become a dangerous place to walk on. Another thing is the damage creates an opening into the drain and through this opening waste and garbage begin to seep in. The place starts stinking and it becomes a breeding ground for insects which spread malaria. Also the drains get choked many a time and this causes great inconvenience to those using the footpaths.

“The workers who cause all these problems should be trained in pulling out and placing back the covers of these drains. Also supervisors need to be appointed to keep a watch on these workers while they are accomplishing their tasks,” said an NMMC official.

There were some pedestrians who did lodge complaints relating to this problem at NMMC headquarters. Their complaint was that if such damages were caused constantly and reparation works were carried out time and again, it is the public’s money that is lost. One of them asked, “What’s the point in our paying taxes, if it is misused like this?”