As sanitation workers in East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) continue to remain on strike, Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta has lashed out at Kejriwal government for failing to address the matter. East part of the national Capital has turned into a big garbage bin with rubbish littered all across. Roads and compounds have not been cleaned since the strike on September 13.

Gupta held the Aam Aadmi Party government squarely responsible for the sorry state of affairs. He said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was inconsiderate towards the plight of the residents who have been forced to live among garbage and unclean surroundings. The BJP leader further said that the CM was not willing to release the salary of sanitation workers. "Their demands are justified. Most of the workers are either contractual or daily wagers who do not earn more than Rs 10,000. It is difficult for them to run their families," Gupta said.

The workers have been protesting against delayed salary, increment under Seventh Pay Commission, arrears and other benefits of contractual employees. The issue of regularising them has also been pending for many years now. The workers have threatened to not have returned to work until the problem is resolved.

The opposition leader also accused the AAP government of violating Supreme Court orders. "Kejriwal has not released the funds allocated for EDMC, because of which the corporation cannot distribute salaries to sanitation workers in time. The chief minister is also responsible for the squalor that more than one crore residents of east Delhi are being forced to live in," Gupta hit out at the CM. He said the area is sitting on a time bomb, waiting to be gripped by some epidemic. "Garbage has not been picked up from streets for the past so many days. It has started to decompose due to the recent spate of rains. Many localities are now prone to deadly diseases because of unclean surroundings," the BJP leader said, adding that the CM is only capable of doing cheap politics.

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Populous areas like Shahadra, Geeta Colony, Vishwas Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Laxmi Nagar are struggling with dirty streets, the foul smell emanating from heaps of garbage lying strewn on roads.