Garbage dumped on the street in east Delhi's Laxmi Nagar.
In a major blow to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan', 12,000 sanitation workers of the BJP-ruled East Municipal Corporation continued their strike for a second day on Saturday.
The workers claim their salaries have not been paid since February and are demanding a full payment of dues.
"We need to be paid 3 months wages. We are hungry, we don't have anything to feed our children with, which is why we are here on the streets protesting," said one of the protesters.
The workers not only refused to clean up the streets, but gathered at various locations and dumped rotting garbage on the streets.
The traffic outside the Radha Palace cinema in Delhi's Laxmi Nagar came to a standstill as garbage was dumped in the middle of the road.
"We want the government to take notice and give us our due. If they pay us our wages, we are willing to return to work tomorrow. We are being made victims of politics," said another protester.
The protesters said the Aam Aadmi Party governing the state and all three-municipal corporations under the BJP rule was the reason of lack of funds.
Reacting to the protests, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia sought an explanation from the BJP-led Municipal Corporation.
"BJP needs to tell us where the money out of the fund is being spent. They need to be answerable. If they can't handle the municipal corporation, then they should hand it over the Aam Aadmi Party," he said.