Sceptics may scoff at Kolkata turning into London, but Birmingham? It’s already Howrah—drowning in waste. Just as overflowing waste filled Howrah’s roads last week, 17,000 tonnes of waste now litter Birmingham’s streets for almost a month.
Since the members of the Unite union (bin crews) called an all-out action on March 11 over pay disputes, concerning proposed salary cuts and demotions, road junctions, railings, and any communal space became dumping grounds for uncollected black bin bags, reported the CNN.
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Birmingham City Council leader John Cotton declared it as a major incident given the concerns for public health, as the waste has disrupted life and created sanitation issues.
“We cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham,” Cotton stated. As a result of the declaration, the council has mobilised additional resources, bringing in 35 vehicles and extra crews to assist with the cleanup, reports BBC.
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The bin strike in Birmingham is one of the longest the UK has seen in recent years, having entered its fourth week on Tuesday.
Besides the present garbage crisis, Birmingham and Howrah have another similarity. Both are renowned for their industrial heritage in iron and steel.
The city’s waste teams would make more than half a million collections in a week with 200 vehicles deployed over eight-hour daily shifts.
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The council website advises locals to put out their household waste bins as normal and leave them until emptied. The council suspended recycling collections, instructing people to take their waste to recycling centers instead.
The strike has sparked frustration among residents, particularly in areas like Small Heath, where growing piles of rubbish have attracted rats, creating health hazards.
Videos of rubbish, sometimes mocking the city, sometimes with pleas for action, circulated on social media.
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Residents expressed anger over the uneven waste collection, with some areas seeing rubbish removed while others remained ignored.
The situation has also attracted political attention, with Opposition parties calling for urgent government intervention. Local government minister Jim McMahon expressed willingness to offer support if requested by local leaders.
In Bengal, the administration decided that Howrah’s solid waste will be dumped in Kolkata’s Dhapa and in Hooghly’s Baidyabati to stop the piling at the saturated Belgachhia waste disposal ground.
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Birmingham City Council has said it hopes for collections to return to normal “as soon as possible” but so far, talks between Unite and council officials have not been unsuccessful.
In 1970, a London bin strike lasted for around seven weeks when waste collectors walked out over pay. The army cleared away mounds of rotting rubbish.
Over 200 bin workers in the Wirral went on a week-long strike in 2022, securing a 15 per cent pay rise. In the same year, a similar dispute over pay saw rubbish pile up in Edinburgh during the city’s busy festival season.
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