Katpadi residents sore at local body dumping plastics waste in tanks

What has angered locals is that while Vellore Corporation claims national fame for its solid waste management practices, in reality, dumpers instead of hauling waste to the 52 micro composting units spread over the local body prefer to dump them either in the Palar in the case of Sathuvachary or the two irrigation tanks mentioned above. 

“We fear the start of some epidemic as the recent heavy rain resulted in heavy flows in the Palar due to which both the Katpadi and Kalinjur tanks are getting regular flows. The waste collected from houses nearby by the local body is usually dumped in these tanks due to which there is a foul odour throughout the day,” said Kumaresan, a resident. 

With most of the plastics trash floating on the water, locals fear, that many who use the water from the tanks could be affected. 

It may be recalled that some months ago when these columns highlighted corporation trucks dumping garbage collected from Sathuvachary on the Palar river bed despite there being a composting yard nearby officials promised to clear up the detritus within two months. It was never done. Similarly, students of VIT had also provided photographic evidence of corporation trucks dumping garbage in Gandhinagar on the Katpadi side of the Palar bridge. As Corporation Commissioner Sankar was not available for comment, DT Next contacted Collector A Shanmuga Sundaram who said he would pull up local body staff and ensure that trash was cleared. 

With an Rs16 crore biomining unit currently functioning at Saduperi to clear the accumulated 2 lakh tonnes of accumulated garbage, knowledgeable sources said trash from the Palar and the two lakes could be diverted to this unit to ensure that the city is really clean and green.