Citizen Connect: Kolathur’s Bharath Nagar turned into dumping ground, rue residents

CHENNAI: The residents of Bharath Nagar Street in Kolathur have raised a complaint over dumping of garbage and debris in the locality, blaming the construction works at the Water Canal Road nearby for the mess.

The streets adjacent to the Water Canal Road have been used to dump debris from the developmental work, the residents allege.

Concrete water pipes placed on the road side in the locality, lying for more than a year, are worsening the situation.

“The concrete pipes were used to lay down the water pipeline as part of the flood mitigation works around six months ago. The Water Canal Road also underwent expansion then. However, after the completion of the works, the pipes have been left on the sides of the road,” said Jignesh R, a resident of Sathya Nagar in Kolathur.

Residents rue that the garbage and debris consisting of construction waste dumped in the open is also not cleared regularly. Tipplers also sit and drink inside these pipes, causing nuisance, residents allege.

“The place looks like a heap of garbage all through the year. People from neighbouring localities also dump waste in this locality. With several eateries and juice shops nearby, a lot of plastic and food waste is also thrown in the open,” says V Vetrivel, a resident of Bharath Nagar.

The shop owners of the eateries say their customers are also hit because of the menace. “The customers usually point out the garbage dump when they visit us. New customers avoid eating at our outlets because the place looks so unclean,” said S Ajith, who runs a food outlet in the area.

The Greater Chennai Corporation zonal officials say that the garbage is cleared by the sanitary workers and allege that the residents dump household items and debris. The officials assured that they will ensure that the garbage is cleared regularly.