Garbage dump on Western Ghat foothills in Coimbatore endangers wildlife

COIMBATORE: A convoy of garbage-laden trucks make their way into farms to reach a piece of land, far away from human settlements, on the foothills of pristine Western Ghats in Coimbatore to empty their load on the forest boundary.

This mindless practice of dumping garbage along the forest boundary by the Somayampalayam Panchayat administration has been going on unabated over the last four years endangering wildlife.

Relentless efforts by the environs to stop the dumping of garbage have so far failed to yield a permanent solution.

“When I visited the dump yard on Friday noon, I noticed smoke billowing out of the garbage dump. With this, it becomes evident that despite the presence of CCTV’s, miscreants tend to enter the yard and set fire to garbage causing immense disturbance to wildlife in the adjoining forest. Such fires may prove disastrous to the flora and fauna, if spread out. I also spotted the dung of elephants at the dumpyard indicating their frequent visits. Indeed, a herd of deers were grazing nearby and peacocks rummaging through the waste,” said U Abhishek, a wildlife conservationist from Vadavalli.

The fencing around the dump yard remains damaged and provide easy entry for elephants into the spot. “Though trenches have been dug, many spots were found filled with waste,” he added.

“Every day, not less than 15 tonnes of garbage generated in villages under Somayampalayam Panchayat continues to be dumped along the forest boundary. Tractors make around 20 trips to dump garbage on the spot,” said P Shanmugasundaram, secretary of Coimbatore Wildlife Conservation Trust (CWCT).

To avoid garbage dumps turning into huge mounds, the panchayat has started to bury waste under the soil.

“The garbage is dumped in deep pits and topped with a layer of soil, only to be alternated with another round of garbage and soil. It is made to look as if the garbage is less,” he said. Wild boars, deer, and elephants frequent the yard in search of food from the leftovers.

“Elephant arrivals have become more frequent nowadays. A few months ago, some of us noticed a herd of elephants rummaging through the garbage in search of food. The forest department is having a tough time chasing the elephants from the spot to avoid them coming further into villages. A week ago, a mother elephant along with its sub-adult and calf were spotted around the the dumpyard. Once they get used to the taste of leftovers, they then start to venture into human settlements in search of the same food. Hence, elephant intrusions in residential areas in Marudamalai foothills have become rampant,” said Shanmugasundaram.

Frequent fire breakouts also cause immense problems to people as well as students staying in the hostels of some educational institutions located in the area.

Plans afoot to build compound wall to keep elephants, other animals at bay

COIMBATORE: Plans are afoot by the district administration to build a compound wall around the dumpyard to prevent wild elephants from coming into the dumpyard.

“The fencing put up already has been breached by wild elephants. So, it has been decided to build a compound wall for which Rs 25 lakhs has been sanctioned. The wall will be erected strong so that elephants do not damage them and the issue will also be resolved once and for all,” said an official of the forest department.

However, the environs sounded wary of the proposed move to build a compound wall surrounding the dumpyard. “It can never be a permanent solution to the vexatious issue. Our persistent demand is to vacate the garbage dump as elephants can easily break a compound wall,” they say. Perhaps the repeated appeals by the forest department to Somayampalayam panchayat to shift the dumpyard have not been met with a favourable response.

Meanwhile, Somayampalayam Panchayat President KP Rangaraj denied these allegations by claiming that such issues are raised with ulterior political motives.

“By pretending to be social activists, they are raising this issue to degrade my name. Six CCTV cameras were fixed a month ago and monitored to prevent outsiders from entering the site to set fire. Also, trenches were dug and the dumpyard has been fenced. Measures have been taken to avoid the accumulation of garbage in the yard through the landfill system. Plans are also afoot to build a compound wall,” he said.

Further, Rangaraj said that incidents of miscreants setting fire to garbage have been stopped after fixing CCTV.

“Once in a while old videos of elephants consuming garbage elsewhere have been circulated in social media as if they happened in this dumpyard. There is also no alternative site to shift the dumpyard and hence it continues to be here itself,” he added.