GMC Workers Posing Threat to Public by Not Following Covid Protocols?

All India Professionals' Congress (AIPC) State unit President and State Congress Spokesperson Gauravv Somani stated that sanitation workers and manual scavengers working in non curfew hours in Guwahati are at an increased risk of exposure to Covid-19 virus both for themselves and for public at large.

There have been reports of several incidents during the first Covid wave, where municipal workers were seen working without following any Covid protocol and social security.

Somani further pointed that the ongoing drainage cleaning work carried by GMC workers in various parts of the city is inviting serious threat to the public as workers are seen cleaning drains on busy roads without following any Covid protocol.

Right from cleaning streets to lifting, dumping garbage, emptying septic tanks handling bio hazards, cleaning public toilets, GMC workers are seen performing their duties without adequate Covid safety kits including hand gloves, masks and sanitizer kits.

As the transmission of covid-19 via faecal- oral transmission is high, such practices may prove dangerous to the intense Covid situation in the city.

Also, there have been reports of the silt taken out from the drains and being dumped on the roads and left unattended by the GMC. This dump garbage eventually becomes a breeding ground for the mosquitoes which in turn causes a health hazard for the people at large amidst Covid virus on its peak.

Prompted by this pathetic scenario, the AIPC has urged the Govt to ensure that GMC workers are equipped with covid safety gear and strict guidelines should be issued in this regard.

Further government should carry out the GMC cleaning drive during the curfew hours to avoid any increase in transmission of the disease and also avoiding traffic congestion in various busy market areas.

Somani also noted that the streets are full of vegetables and fruit vendors sitting on footpaths and roadside selling their stuff hence it becomes extremely hazardous for people's health to consume such unhygienic food stuff amidst covid pandemic hence the silt dumped on the roads should be lifted.

He stressed and urged that the government should consider prioritizing Covid testing and vaccination of GMC workers.