Sri Lanka is perhaps the only country in the world where pavements have been unofficially converted into parking lots for cars, three-wheelers, motorcycles, and so on, thus inconveniencing the general public who get about on foot, including office workers and schoolchildren. Pavement-users who are compelled to walk on the main road are at great risk of being knocked down by passing vehicles.
Meanwhile, adding to the confusion, are the waste management operations carried out in the morning hours. This is another inconvenience for pavement-users and those hurrying to get to school or work.
Also, these waste management operations pose a health hazard. Children can fall sick because of environmental pollution caused by all the garbage and dirt piled into garbage-disposal vehicles and carts and parked indiscriminately on the streets, with scant regard to road users, while obstructing the free flow of vehicles.
The authorities must introduce alternative arrangements to sort out this problem.
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