While Tiruchi city has been ranked among the top 10 cleanest cities in the country over the past few years, sanitary conditions in the city suburbs, especially places of tourist and pilgrim interest, leave much to be desired.
The situation at Somrasampettai en route to the famous Vayalur Murugan Temple is a case in point. But for the drought this year, the short stretch of road between Somarasampettai and the temple normally presents a verdant picture as it winds along the Uyyakondan canal amid lush green fields. But visitors entering the stretch are sure to be taken aback by the unhygienic conditions that prevail on the roadside soon after passing the bus terminus at Somarasampettai.
Putrid and reeking mounds of solid wastes, including non-degradable wastes, greet the visitors and pilgrims, who struggle to hold their breath to avoid the stench. Dumping of vegetable and meat wastes add to the squalor. Residents living beyond Somarasampettai have to endure the stench every day. Open defecation and urination compounds the problem.
“Indiscriminate dumping of waste has been going on for years at this spot. It is time the authorities woke up to the problem and check the menace. I have represented the issue to the panchayat union authorities but to no avail,” said Puliyur A.Nagarajan, president of the farmers wing of the Tamil Maanila Congress and a resident of the area.
The place has become so isolated that even the body of a person murdered was found buried in the Uyyakondan canal in the near vicinity, he observed.
Some residents also complain that even sanitary workers dump the waste from the Somrasampettai village panchayat. Besides shop keepers, the waste from marriage halls also get dumped here and, at times, in the adjacent Uyyakondan canal, Mr.Nagarajan said. There are nearly 10 marriage halls in and around the site and all their waste, including banana leaves used for serving food, is dumped here.
“The village panchayat should find a suitable place to create a proper waste disposal facility. The place where garbage is dumped now should be reclaimed and put to proper public use,” he said and urged the district administration to intervene.
“Apart from being an aye sore and a health hazard, it also leaves a very bad impression of the city on visitors to the temple,” complains R.Gopal, a city resident who visits the temple regularly.