Citizen Connect: Gundumedu residents voice concern over mounds of garbage on lake bank

Perungalathur town panchayat consists of 15 wards. Perungalathur, with a population of nearly 50,000, is a fast growing locality among the southern suburbs of Chennai. But the residents in Gundumedu are a worried lot as the empty ground near the lake is being used as a dump yard by the panchayat. 

Sources said that nearly 13 tonnes of garbage is being collected from Perungalathur every day. As the civic body does not have a proper place to dump the collected waste, it started to use the empty ground near the lake a few years back.

The nightmare started for Gundumedu residents since then. They said that the accumulated garbage sends out a foul smell and it is even difficult to breathe in the area.

R Revathi, a resident of Gundumedu, said, “We are scared for the health of our children. I don’t allow them to play outside, worried that they might catch some infection. Even senior citizens are at the risk of a health hazard. We keep the doors and windows closed always.”

The residents added that plastic waste is being set on fire frequently and it adds to the problem they are facing. Sanjay, another resident of the locality, said, “I shifted here from the city for a peaceful and happy environment. But this particular issue proved that I took a wrong decision.” 

When contacted, Perungalathur executive officer Ravi Kumar said, “We have no other place to dump garbage. The government is planning to allocate a new place and it’s in progress.” He added that some anti-socials set the garbage on fire and they are trying to identify the culprits to take action with the help of the police.”