‘Old habits die hard’. Citizens rarely miss an opportunity to transform this statement into reality. Despite frequent reports in ‘The Hitavada’ highlighting illegal garbage dumping on the road stretch from the Haldiram’s outlet in KT Nagar, Katol Road, the civic menace remains unaddressed. Citizens regularly dump domestic waste on a vacant plot in the locality. According to residents, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) garbage collection vehicle operates only on alternate days.

 

At times, workers do not bother to collect the refuse for days, leaving trash to pile up continuously. While burning garbage heaps in public places is strictly illegal and attracts heavy fines, citizens routinely ignore rules. Meanwhile, the civic body has failed to formulate a permanent solution to resolve the issue. Residents of the housing society located behind the vacant plot have lodged multiple complaints with the NMC, but no concrete action has been taken to stop the dumping and open burning. The ongoing negligence culminated in a hazardous incident on Thursday afternoon, when an unknown individual set fire to the accumulated heap. The blaze quickly intensified, spreading toward the edges of the vacant lot. Though the fire was eventually doused, it posed a severe safety risk to the surrounding area. Without decisive enforcement and regular waste clearance by the NMC, the persistent hazard threatens public health and safety.