Coimbatore: City corporation claims to have achieved more than 90% waste collection and significantly reduced open garbage dumping. However, ground realities tell a different story. Many interior areas in the corporation limits continue to witness rampant dumping of waste, casting doubts on the city's progress toward its goal of being ‘bin-free'.
On Monday, residents of ward 48 at Sidhapudur reported an instance of chicken waste being dumped near a residential area. According to J Jayaselvi, of Anna Nagar, "A foul smell woke us early in the morning. When I stepped out, I found two large sacks of chicken waste dumped in front of my neighbour's house. The entire area stunk until the waste was cleared in the afternoon."
Her neighbours say such incidents are frequent in the area, with door-to-door waste collection being largely ineffective. The street entrance is often covered with piles of waste dumped overnight by miscreants. Corporation workers rarely clear the spot, say the residents of the ward.
Similar complaints of unchecked waste dumping have been reported in several locations - Ganapathy Police Colony, VOC Nagar, EB Colony (near corporation middle school), Illango Nagar, Korathottam Road, MG Road (Avarampalayam), Dr KR Venkatesalu Road and Ganapathy Maa Nagar housing unit.
Grocery vendor S Sudhakar Raja noted contrasting conditions between his residence in SITRA and the shop's location at Ganapathy Maa Nagar housing unit. "SITRA is clean and there are no complaints of open dumping. But here, even if the corporation clears the dump, it piles up again within hours. Most of the waste is dumped by people from other localities. They bring their household waste on two-wheelers and in four-wheelers during the night or in the early morning hours. Surveillance with CCTV cameras in key locations is essential to curb this menace," he said.
Since the corporation has removed waste bins to facilitate doorstep collection of waste, public are now forced to dump waste along roadsides. If the bins were there, open dumping of waste wouldn't have been this rampant, the residents say.
Ganapathy K. Durai, a BJP functionary, said open dumping was a perennial problem on Korathottam Road in ward 29. Sometimes waste dumped along the roadside remains uncleared for days together. "Being an industrial area, waste generation is high. Even if door-to-door collection works, bins are still necessary to prevent dumping in open spaces," he said.
In response to these complaints, corporation commissioner M Sivaguru Prabhakaran acknowledged operational challenges in waste management. He said, "Currently, we achieve 65% source segregation and 90% waste collection. However, vehicle malfunctions and irregular manpower deployment have affected waste disposal. We are planning to float a new tender for waste management in two months. Meanwhile, steps are being taken to strengthen surveillance and impose penalties on people for open dumping of waste."