Pune: Waste Picker Seriously Injured After Being Hit by PMC Garbage Collection Vehicle in Sahakarnagar
Pune: Waste Picker Seriously Injured After Being Hit by PMC Garbage Collection Vehicle in Sahakarnagar
Pune, September 29, 2025 – A 45-year-old woman waste picker, Sangita Jadhav, was seriously injured after being hit by a Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) garbage collection vehicle, known as the “Ghantagadi,” in the Sahakarnagar area. Ironically, the incident comes even as the civic body promotes its “Vishwas 2025” waste collection model, which claims to safeguard the health and dignity of waste pickers.
According to Jadhav, the accident occurred moments after she had handed over waste to the vehicle. “As I started walking away, the Ghantagadi suddenly reversed and hit me. Before I could react, I fell beneath the vehicle. Luckily, the wheels did not run over my entire body, but they injured my left arm and leg. Locals and the driver pulled me out and rushed me to a hospital,” she said. Jadhav has sustained serious injuries to her knee and chest, requiring stitches on her arm.
The accident has raised serious questions among waste pickers about the safety and credibility of the Vishwas 2025 model. Vidya Naiknavare, board member of waste picker collective SWaCH, said, “Every day we are forced to lift heavy garbage buckets up to the five-foot-high tipper on these vehicles. Such accidents expose the risks we face. If PMC truly cares about our health, it should provide gloves, shoes, raincoats, soap, and appoint helpers on the vehicles. Otherwise, this campaign will not be ‘Vishwas’ (trust) but a betrayal of trust.”
Adding to the discontent, waste pickers alleged that PMC misrepresented their voices in an official social media video. Nanda Alhat, who appeared in the video, clarified, “I had said that lifting heavy buckets without helpers is causing back and shoulder pain. But my words were edited to make it look like working with Ghantagadi is easy. For women, this work is never convenient.”
With nearly 4,000 waste pickers in Pune and thousands of Ghantagadi vehicles being deployed across the city, concerns are mounting that such accidents may increase, affecting both workers and the general public amid rising road traffic.
