Locals dump waste on school premises in Thapalpetti

CHENNAI: Residents of Thapalpetti in Madhavaram complain there is no regular door-to-door garbage collection by the civic body authorities in the locality. People dump garbage inside the corporation school campus here, which remains uncleaned for days.

This results in several health issues and an increase in the mosquito menace. People urge the zonal officials to place a dustbin and make garbage door collection mandatory in all the streets.

“It has been a year since the civic body authorities removed the dustbins placed on the streets. The sanitation workers collect waste from the bins kept on the main road and the next street and in some streets the piled up garbage is not removed,” said B Tamilvannan, a resident of Udayar Thootam, 5th Street, Thapalpetti in Madhavaram.

Residents spotted dumped garbage on the road and inside the corporation school nearby. At times, even though sanitary workers collect the waste, residents are too lazy to throw their garbage in the corporation’s vehicle.

“Instead, they dump it inside the nearby corporation school and even the management doesn’t clear it daily. We have informed the sanitary workers to clean as it has become messy and children will face health issues. But, they ignored our statement and it remained uncleaned for the past few days,” added Tamilvannan.

During rains, plastic waste floats, which is one of the major causes of blockage in the drains and results in sewage water stagnation in the area. In addition, animals are spotted consuming plastics that are hazardous to their health.

“People should be conscious of keeping their surroundings tidy. However, they failed to maintain. Several awareness programmes were created to educate the local residents by the zonal officials, but they do not follow it. Unless the civic authorities take severe action against those who dump garbage inside the school, people will continue to pollute,” said G Rakesh, another resident of Thapalpetti.

A senior official with Madhavaram zonal corporation did not respond to the calls made by DT Next.