Iyyappanthangal residents say vacant lands turned into dumpyards as panchayat fails to pick up trash

CHENNAI: A week after non-collection of garbage by the Iyyappanthangal panchayat, a few empty plots of land at Ashok Brindavan Nagar and Dhanalakshmi Nagar in Chennai turned into a dumping ground for the locals.

Residents complain that ever since the panchayat handed over solid waste management to private contractors, there has been no proper garbage collection in the locality.

Earlier, the panchayat used to keep dustbins in several corners of the street but as the trash began to overflow, it became difficult for sanitary workers to remove the trash lying as litter on the road. As a result, the local body removed the dustbins and implemented door-to-door garbage collection on alternative days due to shortage of manpower.

"But at times, the residents miss handing over the garbage to the cleanliness workers which they then end up dumping on the road and vacant lands in the area. Recently, the local body privatised solid waste management in the area but for over a week, there has been no regular garbage collection. The panchayat had collected waste from the residents last Monday. As a result, the entire street has turned into a dumping ground," said Senthil Kumar, a civic activist and resident of Iyyappanthangal.

A resident, J Jayaprakash, complained that when suggestions were given to neighbours to prevent dumping in empty plots, they claimed that it would lead to rat menace in their residential premises, otherwise.

"We are tired of filing complaints with the civic authorities to urge them to implement strict action against those who violate the rules. If they impose fines against the residents and passersby who dump garbage on the streets, they will stop repeating the offence," he suggested.

Officials from Iyyappanthangal village panchayat did not respond to the calls by DT Next.

Meanwhile, a few gated communities in the locality have begun placing dustbins to collect garbage and hand it over to the workers.