Day after Kaanum Pongal, trash spoils Sculpture City’s sheen

V Pannerselvam, a 49-year-old tea stall owner, has been running his shop near the lighthouse for 22 years now. “People of our town know that they should not litter the place. With the tourists, even if we tell them to put the wrappers or tea cups in the bins, they don’t listen. I must take the discarded cups and put them into the bin myself,” he said. 

The bane of this archaeological site is the busload of people, who come from other parts of the state for Kaanum Pongal. 26-year-old Ramanan U, who runs a sculpture store, said, “People throw disposable plates, cups and plastic packets around them. 

Despite knowing that there will be a barrage of people during the festival, there are not enough bins. We also need to have people patrolling the beaches and fining those caught in the act of littering.”

Aine Edwards, an Irish entrepreneur who relocated to Mamallapuram from Chennai a year ago, confessed that she has been avoiding the beach. “I knew the crowds would be there and I did not want to see all the litter on the beach,” rued this avid surfer. 

Mumu (AKA Mukesh), a surfer who conducts weekly beach cleanup sessions at Mamallapuram, was shocked to see the amount of plastic and trash on the beach and the heritage sites. 

“We need tourism to sustain the people living here. But there should also be a stronger system in place to deal the visitors. We need to educate and create awareness among people and have strict implementation of fines on violators,” said the resident. 

The quantum of waste doubles during festivals said V. Parisutham, DGM, Solid Waste Management, Hand in Hand – an NGO that’s in charge of solid waste management in Mamallapuram. 

“On such occasions, no number of bins suffice as people don’t even bother to use them. It is difficult to control the floating population. All we can do is deploy more people to clear up the trash within a day or two after the festivals,” he concluded.