MOUNTAINS OF GARBAGE

By: Zainab

Political rivalries drive despair in India's dirties city : Gonda City, India.

Flies throng over piles of faeces, the drains overflow with sewage and the foul smell in the air is inescapable and vicious.

Welcome Awas Vikas, one of the most exclusive parts of Gonda, a city suffering the ignominy of being branded the dirties in India.

Even in such upmarket areas, garbage trucks are rarely seen, green spaces are littered with rubbish,.......and residents are desperate for their bickering leaders to bring about change.

Gonda, 80 miles [125 kilometers] from Uttar Pradesh state capital of Lucknow, was best known as quiet stopover point for people travelling to Nepal or to see the region's temples.

Infamy arrived in May when Gonda came bottom of an Indian government cleanliness survey of 434 cities.

The city looked at the use of toilets, waste collection, civic infrastructure and other areas.

It is a daily battle for pedestrians and cars to navigate the piles of plastic bottles,  discarded food containers and human and animal excreta.

The stray cows love it, but residents in Awas`Vikas are at breaking point.