Citizen Connect: Conservancy workers burn plastic waste with dry leaves, claim Mahalakshmi Nagar residents

Residents of Mahalakshmi Nagar in Rajakilpakkam have complained that sanitary workers have been burning plastic waste along with dry leaves. They claimed that although they have complained to the authorities about this, no action has been taken yet.

Even though plastic bags are banned in Tamil Nadu, it continues to be used in the State and is often burned during disposal. Residents of the area claimed that this has become a regular problem and many of them have been facing health issues because of this.

“The sanitary workers usually do not take away the dead leaves after cleaning the streets, but burn them. And of late, they have been burning plastics with it as well. The smoke from it enters nearby houses and trouble residents,” said Vishnu Krishnan, a resident ofMahalakshmi Nagar.

Locals also complained that the Corporation has not been taking any steps to address this problem, despite several petitions filed since last month.

“People here are used to littering by the side of the roads. They need to be educated to prevent littering and to start composting at home,” said Antony, a resident of Mahalakshmi Nagar.

“All local bodies have to develop the required number of micro composting sites like in Tambaram Municipality which 25 such composting units. Then only they can handle all the biodegradable waste wherever feasible,” he added.

One of the activists in the locality said that the apartments have to manage their waste in their premises preferably as mentioned in central solid waste management rules. “Here, vendors continue to hand out their wares in single use polythene carry bags. They should abide by the ban and stop using it. Also, industries are heavily using multilayer packaging which is not recyclable. It ends up on the roads and most often is burned by the conservancy workers,” said Durai, an activist in Rajakilpakkam.

Commenting on this, a corporation official said that they would bring an end to this problem and would take action against the workers responsible for burning waste openly.