The Greater Chennai Corporation will launch a mass cleaning programme of the city on June 20.
The decision was taken because of the accumulation of huge quantities of municipal solid waste and open defecation in congested areas. The programme will be conducted for seven days in all the 15 zones of the city. More than 100 localities, with reports of rampant waste dumping, are expected to be cleared of garbage.
The civic body removed 480 tonnes of waste from Woodwarf slum, near Buckingham Canal, on Tuesday. The cleaning of the slum started eight days ago following an inspection by the HR and CE Minister P.K. Sekar Babu and Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi.
On Tuesday, Corporation officials cleaned the area, which had reported open defecation, and restored five toilet buildings in the neighbourhood. A new toilet building was inaugurated on Tuesday, and four more were renovated in eight days, officials said.
Damaged public toilets
Officials have started creating awareness among residents to prevent open defecation in the area. The city was declared open defecation free a few years ago. But damage caused to public toilets in low income neighbourhoods have led to the deterioration of conditions in many areas. The city had more than 900 public toilet buildings after the merger of local bodies in 2011.
Many of the public toilets have been damaged recently, leading to open defecation and dumping of municipal solid waste in such areas. The Corporation is planning to focus on cleaning up garbage and restoring public toilets in such areas during the mass cleaning programme. Work on identification of damaged public toilets will begin shortly.
