Stop eateries from littering near Agaramthen Lake: Residents

CHENNAI: Several roadside eateries, meat stall owners, in the city outskirts are creating a mess where huge amounts of waste from their shops were dumped clandestinely on the inlet channels of Agaramthen Lake in Vengambakkam Road. Activists and locals urge the government to act strictly against the issue to prevent pollution in the water body.

“There are many eateries in the suburban areas and they are not giving the waste to the Panchayat collection vehicles. Because shops in the locality function from evening and continue late at night and after completing the business they want to dispose of the waste immediately. They don’t want their stores to stink when it is reopened the next day,” said Darwin Annadurai of Eco-Society India.

The shop owners also do not have an option. They just dump waste near the water body and such indiscriminate dumping has increased in the suburban locality. Once the waste starts accumulating in the channels of the lake, it will turn problematic during monsoon. So, the local officials must clear the dumped waste around the water body and its inlet channels soon and ensure that the it remains clear, said the activist.

“During the rainy season, the waste dumped will be carried to the wetland and from there to the ocean, eventually it will be polluted. As the suburbs receive mild rain for the past few days, it did not trigger major runoff into the lake. Shopkeepers should not litter everywhere they like. It is overburdening panchayat staff as well as spoiling the aesthetics of the locality,” said a resident near Agaramthen Lake.

A panchayat official responding to the pleas said that a garbage-clearing vehicle was not available, so the dumped waste would be cleared at the earliest.