The story of Morang's road cleaners

By Hari Prasad Koirala,Urlabari, Apr. 25: Rain or shine, blistering heat or freezing cold, the sanitation workers cleaning the Morang section of the East-West Highway are always out, on the roadside, with their equipment. Few notice them and even fewer care about them. But they have important stories to tell and experiences to share.

Agam Bahadur Bhujel of Chandane, Urlabari Municipality–3, has been cleaning the highway for the past 25 years. The 69-year-old is currently at home due to ill health but when he is well, he is out on the road, with a broom in the hand and a heart full of enthusiasm. His neighbour Suresh Kumar Magar is currently cleaning in his stead. 

Dead animals are a major problem in the section of the highway Bhujel cleans. "Cars kill cats, dogs and snakes on the road all the time," he said. "Vehicles hit wild animals like monkeys and deer too."

Automobiles kill over two dozen animals every day on the Itahari-Damak section of the highway. Bhujel, who has been cleaning this section since he started his job, said that most of his time was spent on disposing of the innocent creatures killed in the accidents.

Additionally, Bhujel also removes bushes growing through the asphalt and stones, sand, gravel and other construction material dropped by the tractors and trucks on the road. 

However, as the number of vehicles has increased, so has Bhujel and other cleaners' workload. But nobody helps them. 

As per the rules, the Department of Roads (DoR) appoints one sanitation worker for every five kilometres of road in Terai, every three kilometres in the hills and every one kilometre in the  city areas. Bhujel, who cleans five kilometres in Urlabari, informed that cleaners needed to have a range of skills beyond just sweeping dust and debris.

He recounted a particularly gruesome accident to prove his point. "In one accident, a person was shred into multiple pieces. The police collected as many of the body parts they could and took it for post-mortem. But there were still some pieces left on the road which I collected and sent to the police."

The experience of Karna Bahadur Rai, who has been cleaning the Bhaunne-Kanepokhari-Chhadhare road for 23 years, is not much different. Since it is a forested area, hundreds of quadrupeds come to graze and end up wandering onto the road. They urinate and defaecate, which he has to clean. "My 10 am to 5 pm office time is spent cleaning the urine and faeces and making sure that they do not make the road slippery," he said.

A permanent resident of Pathari Shanishchare Municipality–9, Rai claims to have seen over 300 accidents over his career. "Many of those accidents were due to speeding vehicles," he shared. 

Rai tries to keep his section of the road as clean as he can because he knows how important a clean road is for safety. The memory of a motorcycle accident still haunts him. "A bus once killed a snake here. I was supposed to remove the carcass but I did not know. After a while, a motorcycle came and slipped on the dead serpent and the rider got seriously injured," he remembered, sharing that he still felt guilty over it.

The Road Department employs all sanitation workers on a contract basis. They do not get permanent tenure. The workers get a raincoat, jacket, pair of shoes, and a new uniform every year.

Cleaning roads is harder than it looks. That is why Rahan Singh Rai, who cleans the Pathari-Chhadhare road, urged drivers and pedestrians to not litter and throw garbage haphazardly. Now, the DoR has started asking cleaners to fill potholes and repair minor damages too, he said.

Because of Rai's failing health, his grandson Sher Bahadur goes out to clean the road.