Chandigarh, Sept. 17 -- In recent days, a big garbage dump has formed opposite the gurdwara and temple inside the Panjab University (PU). The PU authorities allege that the municipal corporation (MC) is not letting them throw their waste at the Dadumajra dumping ground. Contrary to PU's allegation, the MC alleged that PU doesn't segregate its waste and has its own Safai karamcharis and they are not responsible for its cleanliness. There is also a residential area close to the dumping spot. While PU authorities have been using this area for collecting the waste of PU, an employee, who lives around the dump requesting anonymity said, "The dump has grown significantly over the past few weeks and rains made the conditions even worse for those who live close by." MC councillor for Sectors 14 and 25, Sachin Galav said that this issue happened due to a dispute between PU and the MC. He said he will take up this matter with the PU authorities and will get the garbage dump cleared at the earliest. Galav said, "The MC claims that PU is an independent body which has its own Safai karamcharis, so it should manage its own waste. Meanwhile, PU is silent on this issue, although they were in talks to employ an independent contractor from Rajpura for a short-term solution. I had put forward a proposal to have MC employees pick up the waste from the university and PU residents to pay MC the same rates as the rest of the city but it has fallen through." Galav further explained that PU owes the MC around Rs.69 crore in property tax and MC officials have refused to help PU till it clears its dues. "However, this isn't the right approach as PU is also a part of Chandigarh, and garbage in PU will affect the city's performance in the Swachh Survekshan rankings," Galav added. One of the Safai karamcharis present near the dumping ground explained that earlier, there was a way out from the back side of the dump from where they used to remove the wet waste, but this path has been blocked after the spell of heavy rains in the past few weeks. "Wet waste has not been removed for many days now. We have around eight to ten carts to round up the waste but people don't segregate it. The MC is also not interested in removing it and we need a JCB to clear all this waste," he said. Waste management inside the PU campus comes under the Horticulture Division of PU. An official explained that PU generates around four truckloads of waste per day and PU has to transport the waste to the Dadumajra dumping ground. "In recent days they are only letting us throw around one truckload of waste per day at the Dadumajra dump site which led to this problem and the waste is being piled up at this spot." When asked, PU vice-chancellor Renu Vig said, "Wet waste and dry waste has to be separated. Residents do not segregate it and safai karamchari segregate the waste on this ground before handing it over to MC. If residents are responsible enough to segregate it themselves and use separate garbage bins then the university will not face this problem." She added that the ground is cleaned regularly and assured that the university authorities will get the dump cleared.MC joint commissioner Himanshu Gupta said, "PU is a bulk-waste generator, and is responsible for handling its own wet waste. For this, they can make compost pits. For dry waste, they are responsible for transporting it to Dadumajra dumping ground, from where it is being processed with the city's waste."...