New Delhi, June 19 (IANS): The East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) on Friday told the Delhi High Court that salaries of sanitation workers have been cleared up to May 31 and over 21,000 tonnes of garbage removed from the eastern side's roads.

"Over 21000 metric tonnes of garbage from areas under it has been removed and will remove the remaining by June 21," the EDMC counsel told a division bench of Justice Mukta Gupta and Justice P.S. Teji.

The bench directed the Eastern DMC not tol stop paying salaries to sanitation workers.

"Apprise the Delhi government in advance whenever there is shortage of funds so that payments could be made without any gap," the court told the Eeast Delhi civic agency.

The court on June 12 asked the Delhi government to release funds by June 15 to the EDMC so that it could pay salaries to its employees. It had also asked the EDMC to take "immediate action to remove garbage" from the streets.

The Delhi government told the bench that Rs.256.47 crore were released to the EDMC as salary of sanitation workers and for grant for primary education.

Fuming over the delayed payment of wages, the EDMC sanitation workers went on a strike and piled up garbage on the streets on the eastern side of the capital, which has its own civic corporation.

Hearing a public interest litigation filed by Sharad Tiwari, a resident of Vishwas Nagar in east Delhi, through advocate Sugriv Dubey, the high court said the Delhi government should cooperate with the civic bodies so that the common man does not suffer.

The bench directed the city government and the EDMC to discuss and resolve the issue of funding.

The court posted the matter for July 16.