Garbage spills on roads as suburbs lack bins

There are no garbage bins anywhere in sight, nor is the pile of rubbish cleared regularly, allege residents. They say they are compelled to inhale rotten air emanating from piles of garbage with no bins to collect them kept in place.

“I have never seen a garbage bin anywhere in the interior roads and people just choose a place to throw them. In a few days, the place becomes garbage yard and the winds carry the wastes all over the roads,” says A Chiranjeevi, a private firm employee of Paraniputhur near Iyyappanthangal in Kundrathur panchayat union. He also added that since his house is located near a wetland where people throw garbage, his family is forced to live with the foul smelling air, posing a health risk.

Compounding the issue, roadside eateries too indulge in largescale dumping of food waste on the roads. Other residents said the area needs more dust bins as well as systematic clearing of the garbage everyday. “Conservancy workers are very irregular and this issue needs to be addressed,” said another resident. 

Residents also claim the garbage mound attracts cattle from all over. “We often blame stray cattle and dogs for blocking traffic. But the fact is they end up on roads tracking the smell for food wastes littered on roadsides,” says S Chandran, a tea stall owner of Kundrathur. “The local body officials should look into it as an environmental issue. Further, if there are waste bins, the area of littering could be contained,” says K Bala, another resident of Perungudi. 

When DT Next contacted a Kanchipuram Municipal official he claimed that busy areas like Tambaram, Pallavaram and Maraimalai Nagar have been allotted adequate number of waste bins, street-wise “But there is an issue in a few other suburban areas with regard to collecting garbage and we will look into the matter soon,” he said. According to him there was no staff shortage since 160 conservancy workers were on duty.