Many college authorities said on the condition of anonymity that garbage is not cleared from the campus regularly and lies outside the campus for more than four days.
Take a walk around college canteens and you will not miss the stinky garbage bin spilling over with vegetable peels and thrown food dumped at the backyard.
College authorities blame it on the municipal body’s apathy in collecting the garbage.
Many college authorities said on the condition of anonymity that garbage is not cleared from the campus regularly and lies outside the campus for more than four days. “We are paying Rs1,500 to Rs2,000 a month to the BMC contractor for clearing the garbage, which is actually his duty,” said officials of many colleges.
The colleges have to plead with the civic contractors and lure them with money to do their job. “We are helpless. Last month, the BMC contractor didn’t pay heed even after much persuasion. When maggots started creeping out of the bins, we had to pay him to clear the garbage,” said a Matunga college principal.
The piled up kitchen garbage not only invites all kinds of insects but sometimes pigs can be seen munching the waste. Public Night Degree College at Santa Cruz faces the same problem. “I have written to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) many times but to no avail. Once, an official visited my office and promised to ensure regular garbage disposal, but nothing happened,” said Snehal Donde, college principal.
But principal of Mulund’s Vaze College BB Sharma is lucky. “In our area, the BMC officials are efficient and don’t ask for money. However, they seek another favour like admissions to the college.”
The students have to bear the stench of the garbage pile.
“It’s pathetic in canteens and hostels as well. Cockroaches, big ants, flies and rats are all over the canteen,” said a student of University of Mumbai, Kalina campus.
BMC solid waste management department’s head, Bhalchandra Patil, could not be contacted despite several attempts.
Accumulated kitchen waste is a reason to worry as it can lead to various diseases. “Rotten food or odour from them does not contaminate your food directly but they attract flies, cockroaches, ants and rats. They bring hundreds of other vector-borne diseases. One can get anything from diarrhoea to leptospirosis, depending on how far and where the pests travelled before touching your food,” said Dr Rohini Kelkar, microbiologist Hinduja Hospital.
The air quality in canteen kitchen is already compromised because of burning of oils and spices. “The smell from the rotten food adds to the air pollution,” said an Maharashtra Pollution Control Board official.
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