Citizen Connect: Irregular timing of garbage collection causes waste to pile up at houses in Anakaputhur

The irregular timing of garbage collection is putting a lot of pressure on residents, especially office-goers, in Anakaputhur.

They complained that most of the time the garbage collection vehicle comes in the noon. “I leave for the office in the morning and no one will be at home to dispose of the waste when the vehicle comes at noon. The garbage is getting piled up in the house due to this issue,” P Karthikeyan, an office goer who stays at Balaji Nager in Anakaputhur, said. “Even after lodging several complaints with the municipality officials, the problem continues,” he added. K Varsha, another office-goer in Anakaputhur, said, “if we keep the garbage basket on the road, dogs and cattle makes a mess out of it. Sometimes, dogs drag food waste on to the road.”

She said that if the garbage vehicle comes at a regular time, it would be useful for the residents.

A senior official from the Anakaputhur municipality said that the public, especially office-goers, were asked to keep the garbage basket outside their house so that it could be collected from their door-steps. “In addition, we had instructed the public to ensure that all the garbage bins kept outside the house have lids,” he said.

The municipality official added that people living in apartment complexes will soon be asked to keep a common garbage bin so that all residents can use it.

However, residents demanded the officials to instruct the workers to collect the garbage at a fixed time everyday. “Sometimes, they collect waste only four days in a week,” S Dhanamal, a vegetable vendor living in Anakaputhur, said.

“I go to the market early in the morning to come back only in the afternoon. By the time I reach my house, the garbage collecting vehicle would have come and gone,” she pointed out.