Citizen Connect: Residents, school students vexed as garbage accumulates on Periyar Nagar street corners

For the residents of First Main Road in Periyar Nagar, there is no respite from the menace of garbage, which is continuing to accumulate on the street despite taking several preventive initiatives.

Periyar Nagar is a residential area created about three decades ago for the Secretariat staff. It is one of the planned residential localities located between Perambur and Kolathur. But residents of the First Main Road are vexed about garbage piling on the road.

There are several crossroads that intersect the First Main Road, all junctions of which have piles of waste. There were several measures undertaken to address this. For instance, after a portion of the street was fenced near Periyar Nagar Third Main Road, the trouble there ended. However, it is still continuing in the Fourth Cross Street, rued residents there.

Waste is dumped at the corners of the crossroads, unmindful of the fact that there are educational institutions and places of worship close to it. In one such case, the trash is piled up right next to the playground of Periyar Matriculation Higher Secondary School where football and tennis coaching are undertaken every mornings and evenings.

Nearby, there is a kindergarten and a temple next to the spot where the garbage has piled up, creating nuisance for students and public.

At their wits end due to the continuing menace, the residents here have urged the Greater Chennai Corporation to set up garbage bins to that the haphazard dumping can be avoided.

R Parasuraman, a Southern Railway employee residing on Fourth Street in Periyar Nagar, said garbage dumping in public places near his residence has been continuing for several years. “Though it was cleaned up several times, people from nearby localities conveniently dump waste at the same spot. About a year ago, a board was placed there announcing that the area has been brought under Swachh Bharat Mission. However, there was no respite even after that,” he said.

One of the workers of a shop located on the street said it was difficult for them to endure the stench of the garbage, and added that they had repeatedly requested sanitary workers to clean the area. But nothing was done despite all their efforts, and the waste is continuing to accumulate there, he said.

When asked, an official from the Corporation’s zonal office said he would direct the concerned sanitary workers to clear the garbage.