Despite growing awareness about segregating waste for eco-friendly disposal, and mechanisms in place to collect garbage in Tiruchi, rules are still getting broken in parts of the city, with unmonitored burning of trash becoming more common.
Commercial establishments like grocers, poultry shops and pavement stalls have found a novel way to dispose their daily waste — they simply heap and burn it down on the roadside. Some householders have also taken to burning their trash in the absence of bins or due to irregular collection of domestic waste in their area.
While this may get rid of the garbage, incineration is not the answer, say environmentalists in the city.
“Shopkeepers have started burning packaging materials like plastic bags and cartons, and even potentially recyclable material like coconut shells. We have also seen poultry vendors burn chicken feathers and animal entrails out in the open. Instead of handing them over to the Corporation’s conservancy team for correct disposal at the micro-composting yards, these people are polluting the atmosphere,” K.C. Neelamegham, state advisor of the non-governmental organisation Makkal Sakthi Iyakkam, told The Hindu.
Burning of trash is being reported by civic forums online in areas of the city like Ponmalaipatti Road, Edamalaipatti and Senthanneerpuram.
Besides creating environmental pollution, the fires also char and damage trees on the roadside.
Continued exposure to the toxic fumes generated from these garbage piles can pose a health hazard to pedestrians and other road users, say concerned residents.
In some cases, Corporation workers themselves allegedly have taken to burning down garbage instead of transporting it to the yard, especially in the suburbs of Tiruchi. “This has been happening at least twice a week and the smoke makes it hard for those who venture out in the morning,” claimed a resident.
Senior officials in the Corporation said the matter would be taken up with the respective garbage collecting teams in the area. Unauthorised incineration of both domestic and industrial waste outside the designated premises is not allowed, they said.