Citizen Connect: With inadequate bins, Poomagal Road residents dump garbage near EB boxes

There are a large number of hostels and paying guest accommodations in the neighbourhood. However, none of them have a proper place for dumping the waste. “The waste is dumped on the street and covers almost half of the area of the street. Due to this, stray animals, including dogs and cattle, feed on the waste and litter it on the road,” said Suriya K, a resident of the locality.

The residents rue that the lack of garbage bins, which forces them to dump the waste on the road. Exacerbating the problem, the conservancy workers of Greater Chennai Corporation do not come to collect the waste regularly. Because of this, the waste is littered on the road most of the times.

There is a Tangedco junction box at the end of the street. Recently, the officials dug a pit near that. Now, as they did not close the pit even after the completion of works, the residents are using it to dump waste, said Savita, who stays in a hostel on Poomagal Road Second Street.

The residents complained that the waste littered on the street not only makes the locality unclean but the waste also gets accumulated near shops in the area. “The garbage dumped haphazardly usually ends up near the shops after being strewn around by the cattle. There are many eateries in the locality, but the waste makes the food unhygienic. So people avoid buying food from these shops,” said Suresh S, a shopkeeper on the Poomagal Main Road.

The residents say that they had informed the conservancy staff about these issues but the workers reportedly told them that they cannot keep garbage bins in the area. They stress that the civic authorities should keep bins in the area, and added that Tangedco officials should take steps to fill the pit that was dug near the junction box.

When contacted, zonal officials in Guindy said that the conservancy staff collect the waste everyday. According to them, the onus is on the residents of the locality to refrain from dumping the waste on the road so as to maintain cleanliness of the neighbourhood.