PATIALA: The city’s new initiative of installing semi smart underground waste collection bins at different areas has attracted a lot of criticism from the residents . Condemning the initiative, residents of ward no. 13 on Tuesday staged a protest against Patiala municipal corporation for setting up a garbage collection point in their area.The residents said that at the time when the government was interested in launching a number of beautification projects, the MC was planning to install garbage dumps. “This will only destroy the beauty of the city and make areas smell bad,” they said.“Some residents approached and said that they did not want bins of be installed in their areas. We are looking into the matter. We will reconsider our decision and select other spots to install bins. If the residents don’t want their colonies clean, then be it,” said Superintendent of Patiala MC M M Sial.“The beautification project is underway by the irrigation department. Now is not the right time to install garbage bins in the area. This will only increase issues for the residents. We recently met the officials of the corporation over this, but all in vain, following which we staged a protest on Tuesday. We will not allow bins to be installed here,” said Gurpreet Singh, a resident of ward no. 13.Last month, Patiala MC had given its nod to several projects, including the solution for its garbage dump project — under which garbage will be collected from every house and finally dumped at Samgauli solid waste management plant in Mohali Under this project, the MC has plans to install 25 garbage bins at different spots in the city. Around Rs 15 crore will be spent annually on door-todoor garbage collection.

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