A nuisance that makes no sense

Classmates Trisha Biswas and Salma Akter, both ninth graders, always return from school together to their homes in Katalganj Residential Area of Chattogram city.

On the way, they face a nuisance every day near Nava Pandit Vihar area -- an open waste-bin by the roadside.

"The stench that comes out of the bin makes it difficult for us to breathe. Sometimes when conservancy workers collect waste from the bin, dirt gets on our clothes. We feel utterly helpless while passing by the waste-bin, especially if there is traffic congestion there," said Salma.

"The open waste-bin has been causing public nuisance for years, but the authorities concerned have yet to take any initiative to relocate it," she added.

Schoolteacher Susmita Basak, also a resident of Katalganj area, said, "A dustbin cannot be placed beside a busy road in a civilised country. Chattogram City Corporation's conservancy department is creating public nuisance instead of addressing it."

A similar situation was observed in Chatteshwari Road area where an open dustbin, in all its glory, lies on the roadside in front of Almas Cinema Hall for years.

According to a study conducted in 2022 by civil engineering department of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, the port city produces around 3,000 tonnes of domestic wastes daily.

Officials of CCC conservancy department shared that a total of 1,350 open dustbins and 96 container dustbins were in the port city until the CCC started removal of dustbins from the city and initiated door-to-door waste-collection from January 2017.

To this end, CCC provided about 9,00,000 bins to households, shops, kitchen markets, businesses and other establishments under its 41 wards.

Although the CCC was supposed to remove all the roadside waste-bins by March 2017, many are still there even seven years after the initiative.

"Almost all open dustbins have been removed from the city, while the container bins are being used as secondary transfer stations (STSs)," said CCC chief conservancy officer Commander Latiful Haque Kazmi.

"The CCC conservancy workers collect domestic wastes from door to door and transfer those to STS. Later, CCC's dump trucks collect the wastes from STSs and dump those to landfills," he also said. 

"However, many residents still throw their wastes in the few open dustbins that still remain, which is the root of this nuisance," Kazmi added.

Contacted, Dr Swapan Kumar Palit, professor of Cuet's civil engineering department, said the STSs should be relocated from busy roads and localities to avoid public nuisance.

"The CCC should find some places outside localities to relocate STSs, or opt for an alternative way to collect wastes, such as setting up underground waste collecting stations," he added.

Asked why the STSs are placed on busy roads, Kazmi said currently there is no alternative to it.

"The CCC does not own any land to set up STSs at present. It has sought land to Railway authorities to this end…it will take time," he added.