Chennai: Construction debris on roadside is an eyesore. At a few stretches in Thangam Colony, Anna Nagar West one can see waste left on the roadside from construction sites.
“The city’s resilient road users learn to take that too in their stride. Dumping of construction waste on the roadside continues in spite of having designated dumpsites,” says, Karunakaran, a resident of 18th Main Road.
“We residents requested the corporation officials to clear the debris. But they said that there is no accessibility for lorries due to construction work of storm water drain on inner streets. The contractor who has completed the project failed to handover the street roads,” he added.
“A dilapidated car has been parked for a longtime in our street. We don’t know the owner of the car but the car paved way for dumping the debris. The space next to this car, now turned into a dumping yard,” says, Thilak, a resident of 15th Main Road.
“Under pressure to clear up construction waste in the respective areas, the officials concerned are blaming others for dumping debris late in the night,” he added.
“For us in India a combination of stiff penalties and enforcement will help us keep our cities clean. But even more important, municipal corporations have to lead by example,” a senior citizen Rajkumar said.
Yokesh, a college student said, “If the dumping areas are clearly demarcated, people definitely won’t want to dump anywhere. Even where there is small money, recycling of material is definitely happening.”
He mentioned, “The concrete debris can definitely be reused in low end compacting functions, foundations, road areas, for heightening purposes etc. Earlier there was a lot of empty land around, but now people don’t know what to do with the debris they create. And unfortunately there are more people, and more generated debris too.