<b>AMC staff seek police cover for risky jobs

AMC staff seek police cover for risky jobs Tuesday, September 11, 2001

SOURCE : THE TIMES OF INDIA NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD: More than 200 employees posted at the north zone office of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) stormed into the civic body's headquarters at Astodia on Monday.

Complete with drums and slogans delivered in singsong tones, the employees led by the Ahmedabad Municipal Servants' Association (AMSA) demanded that they be provided police protection when going on "risky" assignments like disconnecting illegal water lines, especially in eastern parts of the city.

Monday's event was expected as agitated employees had held the north zonal office of the AMC at ransom for about five days.

And with reason enough as the civic body on its part has intensified a drive to disconnect illegal water lines in eastern areas of the city like Kubernagar. During the last one month, the corporation has cut off over 400 illegal tappers in Kubernagar itself. With an estimated 25 per cent leakages (a major chunk of which is dominated by illegal water tappers) plaguing the municipal water supply, the problem is indeed worth the concern.

Gulam Ahmed Malek and Hirabhai Jashabhai Chawda, working as fitters in AMC's engineering department, were beaten up by local residents. This had prompted them to stop work at corporation's north zonal office in protest against non-provision of police protection to AMC employees.

"This is a sensitive task and yet the employees are unnecessarily being targeted. We have submitted a memorandum to the municipal commissioner to give us security if they want employees to continue performing their duties", said Dinkar Bhatt, the general secretary of AMSA.

In their memorandum, the association has cited two instances. One that occurred on September 4 was when AMC employees were busy digging to uncover an illegal connection that supplied water to Madhuwan Park Society in Kubernagar. Localites protested the move and even beat up the employees before throwing them out of the housing complex. A police case naming five accused too has been filed in this regard.

The second altercation, also in Kubernagar, occurred much along the same lines but with a difference. Here, the victim-fitter, Chawda, alleges that among those protesting the move (complete with abuses and threats) was a local corporator, Suryaben Patel, and her husband.

Municipal commissioner K Kailashnathan said, "While senior officials of the engineering department have contacted the local police station for providing security, I have written to the police commissioner on the same context. We cannot have repetitions of such instances where AMC employees are out to perform their duty."

Kailashnathan added that, "Due to numerous complaints of water contamination from eastern parts, we had to take this drive. Rampant illegal connections, which may have cropped up due to lapses on part of some department officers, have led to polluted water seeping into the main water pipelines of AMC. After investigations, we found Kubernagar to have most number of illegal connections."
SOURCE : THE TIMES OF INDIA NEWS SERVICE

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