Garbage bins that were supplied to two panchayats in Modakurichi Panchayat Union were lying idle for many months now. People demanded that they be placed at villages for effective implementation of solid waste management.
As per Census 2011, the union has 23 panchayats with a total population of 1.13 lakh, including 16,054 in 46 Pudur Panchayat and 9,739 in Lakkapuram Panchayat. Since both the panchayats were located on the outskirts of the city, there is a sharp increase in the population due to its presence along the periphery of the city, said Muthukumar, a resident of Golden City in the 46 Pudur Panchayat.
Currently, houses have mushroomed in villages located in both the panchayats.
Apartments and individual houses have come up necessitating the need for improving amenities. However, sanitation and solid waste management continue to be poor in these areas as sewage continues to flow on roads while garbage collected from households and dumped in bins are set on fire regularly by the ‘Thuimai Kavalargal’ (conservancy workers), he added.
Under the Solid Waste Management Scheme 2017-2018, over 150 dumper bins were given to the two panchayats for placing in residential areas so that people can dump the garbage in the bins.
“There are no bins in Lakshmi Nagar, Golden City, Vasantham Nagar, Kumar Garden and other colonies in the area. But, over 20 bins are lying idle under the tree for over three months now,” said K. Sobika, a resident of the area. She said that in the absence of bins, they have to drop the garbage in bins located about one km away from their area or in bins at Solar that comes under the Corporation limit.
Many residents, Raja, Shakeela and Vadivel, said that they have to drop the garbage in the water canal and set it on fire frequently. Also, a bin present at Priya Thottam was not cleared all these years and residents continue to set the garbage on fire, said a resident Manjula. She wanted bins to be placed in all the areas and get it cleared regularly.
Officials at the Block Development Office, Modakurichi told The Hindu that spots for placing bins were being inspected and would be placed soon.