Hazaribag: Waste collection and its disposal remained stalled in Hazaribag for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday as locals of Mandai-Kasiyadih continued to resist the dumping of city waste at the municipal dumping yard in their locality, leading to waste piling up on the city streets.Mandai-Kasiyadih residents have been blocking the entry of municipal waste vehicles in the dumping yard for five days now over sanitation and concerns over environmental and health hazards. With no alternative dumping site available, the private agency hired for door-to-door waste collection have halted work.Notably, 36 wards under Hazaribag Municipal Corporation generate between 35-37 tonnes of waste daily. With waste collection stalled, garbage has begun piling up on the city streets and localities.Subodh Kumar, a resident of Okhni in Ward 18, said he dumped his household waste near a municipal dustbin. “The large iron dustbin was already filled to the brim, while garbage had piled up all around it. There is filth everywhere,” Kumar said.Kasiyadih residents had protested over the issue in April this year. In a meeting chaired by mayor Arvind Kumar Rana, the residents were assured that a waste-processing unit would be set up, regular cleaning of the roads would be undertaken, and streetlights would be set up from Kasiyadih Hanuman Chowk to the dumping yard. However, locals alleged that most promises remain unfulfilled.Residents are now demanding construction of the proposed Rs 411-crore waste-processing plant to ensure segregation, recycling and scientific disposal of waste. Rana said the private agency, which bagged the municipal waste management contract for 20 years in Jun 2025, was contractually obligated to establish a scientific waste-processing, recycling and reuse system at Kasiyadih.“The firm was given a long-term contract to set up the required infrastructure, but the work has not progressed as scheduled,” he said. The mayor said the company has been served two notices, and it would be blacklisted if waste collection does not begin soon and the machineries are not set up at the earliest.
