Bhatkal: The poultry shopkeepers in Bhatkal expressed their dissatisfaction over the decision of Bhatkal Town Municipality to charge Rs. 200 per day from each poultry shop for the collection of their garbage.

It may be recalled that earlier Rs. 1500 per month was being collected from each shop at the rate of Rs. 50 per day and the waste was disposed by TMC at the dumping yard located in Sagar Road. Meanwhile, some shopkeepers used to throw their garbage in the Venkatapur river, which enraged the locals.

In the last six months, D'Souza Company of Udupi has taken a contract to collect garbage from poultry shops in Bhatkal taluk. This has greatly reduced the problem of garbage disposal in the premises of Jaali Pattan Panchayat and Bhatkal TMC. But now during the lockdown, the vehicles of D'Souza company stopped entering Bhatkal. The company stipulates that the cost of garbage disposal has gone up due to the increase in diesel prices, so if the cost is borne by TMC, then they are ready to take the garbage. This was the reason why the garbage disposal has not been done regularly for the last one and a half months.

To solve this problem, the owners of poultry shops were gathered in the Municipality meeting hall on Friday and informed that the garbage removal charges have been increased, so they have to pay Rs. 6000 per month at the rate of Rs. 200 per day.

The shopkeepers strongly objected to the decision of the TMC, saying that due to the COVID lockdown, it has not been possible to run the cost, rent and salary of the shop. Business has almost come to a standstill, and it is not right for TMC to impose such a burden on vendors in a tough times.

The vendors also said that there are more than 100 poultry shops in TMC and Jali Pattan Panchayat limits, only a few of these shops do some large-scale business while most of the shops are working on a very small scale to earn a living. In such a case, it is not right to charge all the shops equally. Therefore, TMC officials need to reconsider this decision.