KATHMANDU: Maya Deula of Gwarko in Lalitpur reaches to Mangalbazaar at 4AM every day. She holds an old sack and starts sweeping the streets littered with wastes. Her friends and colleagues help her to sweep, heap and collect waste materials.
Deula has been doing this job for 25 years. It is her duty to reach to streets of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, and clean them. It is said that no work is bigger and smaller but it requires respecting all works.
However, she has bitter experience of insult though she is always dedicated to keep the streets neat and tidy.”We pick up the abandoned wastes. They hate us, terming us as street cleaners,” she said. “I am sad about it but we cannot survive without working.”
Hira Devi Deula of Bagalamukhi has also been involved in cleaning streets for 30 years. “It seems that we belong to dust and smokes,” she said. “Neither we can leave waste nor can waste leave us. We always suffer from cold and coughs just because of this relation,” she added.
She witnessed many changes in last three decades. However, the habit of people littering streets has not changed yet, she experienced. “People throw wastes recklessly even these days,” she said. “They are educated and aware but they throw wastes on the streets.”
She further said that it has begun to respect works in Nepal. “In the past, we had to wash the cup of tea after we took at the teashop. But we are feeling honored these days,” she said.
Similarly, the story of Sabitri Deula of Kuleshwar is similar to those sweepers. She has been sweeping the streets for 27 years. “We have to go here and there as per the routine of routes,” she said.
“In early morning, they come for morning walks to inhale healthy air but we will be busy to sweep and collect wastes.” Their works are connected to wastes but they neither have gloves nor masks. The metropolitan city provides mask and glove once a year, according to Sabitri. “We have to buy them after the municipal offers tore out.”
“If we go to the streets to clean the city, they call us waste holders. I am disheartened to hear this,” said Sabitri. “It would be better to address us at least as sisters or something.” We want all homes and yards to remain clean but many throw wastes on the streets, they said. Bhujel, Hira and Sabitri are among many sweepers to keep the city clean.
Bhai Bijendra Deula, leader of Sanitation Division at Lalitpur Metropolitan City, said that the heaps of wastes are accumulated on the streets. “Earlier, sweeping was enough to clean streets but people throw the waste haphazardly on the streets these days. It has created problems to clean them,” he said.
According to him, the municipality vehicles pick up the swept and collected wastes from the streets. However, it has not made the streets keep clean.
