Residents demand removal of dump yard
CHENNAI: The Pammal Municipality’s decision to convert a micro compost centre into a dump yard in Tiruneermalai is causing hardships to the residents living close to the facility, whose complaints about foul smell and insect infestation have fallen on deaf ears.
The micro compost centre was set up a few years at a piece of land that lies close to an apartment complex in Tiruneermalai where there are more than 1,000 families residing. However, due to the alleged failure of the municipal officials in properly maintaining the facility, it was converted into a dump yard.
“As it is located very close to our houses we are suffering a lot. We are not even able to open our windows due to foul smell emanating from the garbage,” said Prakash, a resident, adding that the rotting waste was also attracting insects that are now entering their houses. The resident claimed that no action was taken by the officials despite repeated requests not to dump the garbage.To press their demand, the families here had decided to boycott the election and warned political parties that they would vote only if garbage was removed. According to them, the parties promised to clean the surrounding and started the work. But once the polling got over, the cleaning work was stopped.
When contacted, an official from the Pammal Municipality said that the work was being carried out to move the garbage from the micro compost centre. “The capacity of the dump yard is only five tonnes. We couldn’t manage with it during the festival seasons. A new dumping yard is going to come up soon at Vengadamangalam. This problem will come to an end after that,” the official claimed.