Ranchi: As Jharkhand prepares to celebrate 25 years of statehood with grand jubilee events, the capital’s civic reality tells a very different story. Just outside the historic Birsa Munda Jail — where tribal icon Birsa Munda spent his final days — heaps of garbage have turned the area into an unbearable eyesore and health hazard.
Despite ongoing beautification drives across Ranchi, with roads being cleaned and dividers freshly painted, the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has converted the space in front of the Birsa Munda Park into a makeshift dumping yard. Locals say the stench from the garbage piles makes it difficult to even pass by. “People rarely visit the park now because of the foul smell,” said a park employee. Akash Chandra, a resident of Bariatu, added, “I hesitate to bring my children here. We now take a longer route via Jail Mor to avoid this stretch.”
The situation is no better at the Chhatarī Talab tracker stand in the heart of the city, once a bustling transport hub for over 400 trackers daily between Ranchi and Ramgarh. Today, less than a hundred operate, as mounds of garbage surround parked vehicles. “Passengers wait amid unbearable stench; many regulars have stopped coming here altogether,” said one driver.
Locals and transport workers say they have repeatedly raised the issue with authorities, even informing the state health minister, but no concrete action has been taken. “We pay taxes to the corporation, yet there’s not even a proper shelter to protect us from sun or rain,” complained a driver at the stand.
Interestingly, the area was cleaned before Chhath Puja, but within days, it returned to its old state. RMC Additional Administrator Sanjay Kumar acknowledged the problem, stating that a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) is being constructed near the tracker stand. “An STS (Secondary Transfer Station) has been set up for temporary garbage collection, with several Hyva trucks deployed. Once the MRF is complete, the situation will improve,” he assured.
However, residents question the logic of piling waste in front of a monument of immense historical and cultural significance. “How can the government celebrate Birsa Munda’s legacy while turning the site of his martyrdom into a garbage dump?” one resident remarked in frustration.