The Udhagamandalam Municipality organised a cleaning drive at a site on Wednesday which was being used by a section of local residents as an illegal dumping ground for both compostable and non-compostable waste.
The dumping ground, located in Rose Mount in Udhagamandalam town, was being used by a section of residents to dump domestic waste. The open dumping of waste was both a health hazard, and also attracted rats and wild boar into the residential areas, alleged the residents in complaints to the municipality and to the office of the District Collector.
Following the complaints, a team of sanitary workers from the municipality as well as a supervisor visited the area on Wednesday and carried out a thorough clean-up of the area. The sanitation staff also spoke to local residents and advised them to segregate the waste and hand it over to the vehicles collecting household garbage every day.
The staff charted out the days of the week and the time that the vehicles visit the locality, so that people could hand over their household waste on the scheduled days. They also warned residents that if the improper disposal of waste continued, then action would be taken against the households responsible and fine imposed.