Citizen Connect: Corporation removed garbage bins without creating awareness of waste segregation, say residents

It has been over a month that garbage bins have been taken off the streets of Lakshmipuram in Kolathur. The garbage, however, continues to pile up at the spots where the bins used to be.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) had taken the bins off the streets to make its streets bin-free and encourage waste segregation at source, but residents said that the unannounced move has only caused inconvenience.

“The garbage bins were removed suddenly without informing us about it in advance or even letting us know the reason for it,” said M Saranya, a resident of Teacher’s Colony at Lakshmipuram.

“Earlier, people used to dispose their trash in the bins but now they are throwing them on the streets. The Corporation should have at least informed the residents before removing the bins or made an alternative arrangement,” she added.

R Saravanan, a resident of Kadappa road, said that conservancy workers do collect the garbage from each household but not all residents segregate their waste. “Sanitary workers have been regularly collecting garbage from our houses. A few residents, however, have been throwing their garbage on the street after the bins were removed. New littering spots have popped up in Lakshmipuram now. Cattle and dogs make entire area unhygienic,” he said. Saravanan also expressed the fear of diseases spreading if garbage continues to pile up on the streets.

Another resident of Sapthagiri Nagar said that conservancy workers have been insisting that residents segregate their trash into biodegradable, non-biodegradable and hazardous wastes before handing it over to them. “More than a month later, the conservancy workers have now distributed pamphlets urging the residents to segregate their waste because if segregation is not followed then the workers will not be able to hand over the segregated wastes at three locations in Lakshmipuram,” the resident said.

A Greater Chennai Corporation official of the Zone-III said that the garbage bins were removed only after issuing pamphlets to the residents on garbage segregation. “We have instructed the conservancy workers to insist on source segregation of the garbage,” the official said. On the garbage dumped on the streets, the official said that residents should stop littering. “The segregated waste should be handed over at the designated places. It should not be dumped on the streets,” the official noted.