Garbage still on road in Chitlapakkam

CHENNAI:  Despite an NGT order following an article by TNIE, Chitlapakkam town panchayat is still lagging behind in regular garbage collection and source segregation. “While there is no source segregation at all, garbage is not being collected regularly. It is only done once or twice a week, due to which garbage piles up on roads. Being added to Tambaram Corporation has not really made much of a difference,” said Dayanand Krishnan, a resident.

About a year ago, five minivans were introduced to collect trash from about 7,000 houses and the rest was collected in tricycles. There was an issue with the contractor and the conservancy workers were not being paid properly. Due to this, the vehicles stopped collection. Though the issue was rectified to an extent, collection remains irregular ever since, said the residents. Currently, there are about eight vehicles that must cover nearly 12,500 households in the locality, everyday.

“The vehicles are not in a good condition, due to which they only visit half the houses. Due to this, people throw garbage near the Chitlapakkam lakebed and under the Tambaram Sanatorium bridge, among other places,” said S Pallavi, another resident.

When contacted, a local panchayat official said work got delayed due to Covid-19, and that 100 vehicles will be procured to collect waste in Tambaram Corporation soon.

Not enough vehicles
At present, there are only about eight vehicles that cover nearly 12,500 households in and around Chitlapakkam, and collect garbage