Citizen Connect: Debris on Vellalar Street remains uncleared, complain residents

Civic officials’ apathy over removing debris on Vellalar Street in Kodambakkam is irking residents as the debris poses threats to their children.

As the street is a short cut to Vadapalani from Kodambakkam and Choolaimedu, several motorists, especially two-wheeler riders, use the street during peak hours. “There is a transformer on the narrow pedestrian platform. The Corporation officials have placed a garbage bin near the transformer. This has become ideal space for miscreants to dump construction waste,” a resident, on the condition of anonymity, said.

He added that though the Chennai Corporation workers come to the spot and remove garbage from the bin every day, they do nothing to remove the debris. “It has been there for several weeks.”

Apart from being an eyesore, the uncleared debris also poses a danger to kids as there is a private nursery near the transformer and the debris pile.

When DT Next visited the spot, on Thursday, debris and all kinds of waste were found near the primary school.

“Some unconcerned residents of the locality throw away their old furniture, wooden boxes and other unwanted things near the transformer. Kids may suffer injuries from these wastes. Officials should act before anything bad could happen,” the resident urged.

Meanwhile, a rider said that he has been using the street to commute to his office for several years, and the spot has become a dumping spot for construction waste.

“Last week, I used the road and there was debris. When I travelled through the street again on Thursday, it remained the same with not a single piece removed,” K Bharath, a rider and resident of Choolaimedu said.

He added that illegal dumping of debris has become a menace near most of the garbage bins in the locality. As it is a residential area, building owners undertake more renovation works. “They do not have a place to dump construction waste. The civic body should earmark a place so that the building owners can dispose of their debris safely,” Bharath opined.

As the civic body has mandated licence to demolish old buildings, debris is being disposed of as per rules in those cases. However, the civic body has no mechanism to monitor minor renovation works.

When asked, a Chennai Corporation official said that they have been imposing a penalty against the persons who dump debris on roads and assured of cleaning Vellalar Street.