Vacant plots get filled with garbage in many areas

This is a problem for residents in various pockets of the city. Aarthi Arun, a chartered accountant and  resident of Mahalingapuram, said that an unfinished building on the main road has turned into the unofficial garbage dump. “The work in this building has stopped due to an ongoing legal hassle. Garbage is being dumped regularly here by the residents in the locality. Apart from the stench, indiscriminate garbage dumping will lead to mosquito problem. We need to change the attitude we have about garbage – we don’t care where it ends up if our homes are clean. Individuals should take the responsibility not 

to dump garbage anywhere other than the bin.” Sunil Jayaram, a resident from Chitalapakkam, said there are at least a few such vacant plots in his locality. “It is not just the vacant plots but also street corners, where residents dump garbage. I’ve seen well-educated people dumping garbage in areas like the Chitalapakkam Main Road, Srinivasa Nagar and MC Nagar, among others. This is such a shame. The garbage lying in such plots attracts cattle and crows, who strew the trash all over the place. You can see used diapers and fruit peels all over the road, which makes the place look ugly,” he added. 

In places like ECR and Adambakkam, this is rampant. Vishnu K of  Uthandi, said “Apart from my locality, I’ve noticed this taking place in Palavakkam and Neelankarai. Since the ECR is not stringently monitored, the house owners throw their garbage in the next plot, which then piles up,” he said. Despite the presence of garbage bins, residents throw garbage in these plots for the sake of convenience. “There is a garbage bin installed on Tansi Nagar 14th street, but residents and motorists throw the garbage all around the bin, including the vacant plot nearby. Either the owners should put up a strict notice board or corporation officials should be taking some stringent action to curb this menace,” said R Gopalan, a resident of Tansi Nagar, Velacherry. Dharmesh Shah, waste policy expert, said this is a  dangerous trend  and a public health hazard. Officials from the Corporation were not available for comment.