Citizen Connect: Fear of health hazard looms large as panchayat dumps waste on vacant land

One of the main duties of the civic body is to collect waste from the residents, commercial establishments and keep the locality clean. But in Chitlapakkam, residents complain, the waste is not recycled, composted or sent to landfills. Instead, it is dumped at vacant plots in the locality itself.

“When I walk towards Sanatorium railway station every day, I need to cover my nose because of the bad’ smell which emanates from the garbage which is dumped on the vacant land near the railway station,” Vignesh, a commuter, said. Residents claimed that the garbage ends up in the locality itself as the panchayat has no designated place to dump it.

Sources said that the panchayat collects 15 to 20 tonnes of garbage every day and earlier they were disposing it near Chitlapakkam lake. A few months ago, a court ordered the authorities to stop the dumping near the lake. As the panchayat could not find another place after that, they started to dump garbage empty lands in the locality. The condition of Barathamada Street, which connects to Velachery, is poor as garbage is dumped on the sides of the road. As the stretch houses two schools, a church and community hall, residents are worried for their health. They said chances are high for children to be affected by the unhygienic condition.

While residents are in a hurry for the civic body to clear the garbage and clean the area, there is no Executive officer appointed for the panchayat. Mankadu EO, who is in charge, is busy in Kancheepuram as Athi Varadar festival is ongoing. 

When contacted, an official from the Chitapakkam village panchayat said, “We don’t have a place to dump the garbage, so we are using government lands. Soon a new place will be allocated and after that, we will clean all the garbage,” he said