Civic actions in Chennai suburb bring relief to residents


Garbage in Srinivasapuram being strewn across as the conservancy workers were not streamlined.

Chennai: After continuous follow-ups with sanitary officers of Pallavapuram and Pammal Municipalities, local residents are now relieved that their area has finally been cleaned.

Speaking about this, a resident of Srinivasapuram, says, “Garbage has been overflowing from a bin here for the last three years. The authorities did not take any action right from the beginning.”

“But the issue became a major concern in the last six months as a gated-community was set up just opposite to the land and residents from neighbouring streets too began to dispose their household waste in the bin. At any given time, one can spot the trash can overflowing, occupying almost half the street. It also served as a hotspot for mosquitoes and several other insects,” adds the resident.

After a long struggle, residents got hold of the Sanitary Inspector, requested for the removal of the bin and asked conservancy workers to do door-to-door garbage collection.

With continuous follow-up, obliging the requests of the residents, officials removed the trash bin and measures for door-to-door collection was initiated recently.

“Within 10 minutes of emptying the bin, it used to get overloaded again and there were even days when the Municipality workers failed to empty the same. Now that the officials have promised of individual collection, we hope the area would be much better,” said the resident.

In yet another incident, residents of Ponni Nagar in Pammal fumed over garbage being burnt on a vacant plot.

“The entire land in Second Street was used for disposing household waste, with even sewage remaining stagnant. The workers who come to clear the blocks off the sewer, also dumped the mud in the plot that led to this pathetic condition,” said a resident of Ponni Nagar.

It is also learnt that the sanitary workers of Pammal Municipality did not transport the collected garbage and had actually left a huge chunk in the said space.

However, a complaint lodged with the civic body worked, and workers are now regularly noted to be carrying out their duties effectively.