A worker shifts a discarded tyre from a heap of tyres which was lying for the last one year

MSRTC has finally started removing scrapped tyres and old vehicles at its workshop, following a report in Pune Mirror after the dengue outbreak in the city. Mirror had highlighted the mosquito breeding conditions at the MSRTC’s Pune Divisional Workshop in Dapodi, ‘Discarded tyres still hold water, make ST facility dengue zone’ (PM, October 27).

Eight MSRTC employees at the workshop contracted dengue while two of them landed in the ICU. All the 250 employees at the workshop heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday, as the management started shifting the discarded tyres and vehicles, which were lying on the premises for the past one year.
 
Mosquitoes were multiplying in hundreds in the discarded tyres lying in an open space after rainwater accumulated in them. Now, almost after 20 days, the authorities deployed workers, who removed the tyres and five scrapped vehicles from the workshop. “We have completed the auction of the tyres.
 
Vendors will take them away. Also, we have told the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) and some private companies to carry out fogging of the area. The entire scrap will be shifted within a week,” said Sachin Bhujbal, MSRTC Pune division’s labour officer.

The tyres are being kept outside on the road so that the vendors can transport them to their godowns. While this process was on, the MSRTC workers’ union indicated that it may stage a dharna from November 22, outside the workshop to air safety issues faced by the workers.

Around 17 leaders of the union and some workshop employees will participate in the stir, but the usual work will continue. “Though management was prompt to remove the scrap, safety issues still remain to be addressed. We want a safe working atmosphere at the workshop,” said Saneep Shinde, executive president of the union.

“Our major demands are clean drinking water for the employees, toilet cleaning must be done daily, there should be a rest house for the employees on the workshop premises and medical bills of the employees affected by dengue should be cleared immediately. If the management fails to look into them, we will go on an indefinite strike,” added Shinde.