Citizen connect: Electric poles in open drain, plots brimming with plastic waste trouble Guduvanchery

Despite this, residents complain that the suburb lacks many basic facilities, including sewerage, electricity infrastructure and even garbage collection.Karthik, a resident of the locality, complained that his neighbours have converted the empty plots in the area into dump yards and conservancy workers rarely show up to collect garbage. “We have been asked to source segregate the waste and we do. But for how long can we keep it inside the house? It starts stinking a day after and mosquitoes start breeding in two days. But conservancy workers have been inconsistent in collecting the garbage and turn up only once a week. Sometimes, it extends to 10 days to two weeks. Since there are no garbage bins placed in the locality, residents have no option but to dump waste at the empty land. These plots are brimming with plastic waste and serve as a perfect situation for mosquito breeding,” he says.

Saravanan, another resident of the locality, said that there is no proper sewerage to let out the wastewater. “There is an open drain in which electric poles have been placed. During monsoon, we fear to let our children out to play on the road as the sewage overflows due to improper placement of electric poles. Authorities concerned should resolve the issues by the end of the summer at least,” he said. When contacted, Leema Rose, Block Development Officer for Kattankolathur Panchayat Union, said that the area falls under the Town Panchayat. However, both Executive Officer and Assistant Engineer of Nandivaram-Guduvanchery Town Panchayat, under whose jurisdiction the area falls under, were not available for their comment.

Kavitha Vijayaraj, a Tangedco official, when contacted, said that she did not receive any complaints from residents about electric poles inside drains and added that she would ask her staff to check them.