5 days ago
Residents complain of rampant garbage dumping along Rajiv Gandhi Salai
Garbage has been piling up on the service lanes of Rajiv Gandhi Salai or Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), beyond the Greater Chennai Corporation limits, causing inconvenience to both pedestrians and motorists. On any day, one can see garbage below foot overbridges and streetlights, and on vacant lots on the roadside in areas including Navalur, Egattur, Siruseri, and Muttukadu.
'It is an eye sore. This road is the information technology corridor, where large companies are located and hundreds of high-rise buildings dot the skyline. The panchayats boast of being rich due to the collection of property taxes. However, they don't seem to want to plough back the money into maintaining cleanliness, providing drinking water, or laying sewage lines. They dump garbage along the Muttukadu lake and even burn it,' said M. Suresh of Padur.
In most places, garbage is packed into old cement bags and dumped by the roadside. 'Though many gated communities segregate waste, nobody knows how it is disposed of. When one steps out of an apartment complex, the roads are never clean. If there are too many complaints, some garbage is removed, otherwise nobody bothers. All of it is ad hoc. Nothing is structured,' said Keerthi of Kelambakkam.
Harsha Koda, co-founder of the Federation of OMR Resident Associations (FOMRRA), said the panchayats of Padur, Kelambakkam, Egattur, Navalur, Siruseri, Muttukadu, and their surrounding areas were still stuck in a 'village outlook' and were not equipped to meet the solid waste management needs of the heavily urbanised Rajiv Gandhi Salai. 'They lack the vision and understanding on how to handle the increasing waste generated by this rapidly growing urban landscape,' he added.
'After visiting Indore, which won the Swachh Bharat Cleanest City award for eight consecutive years, we submitted a preliminary report to Thiruporur MLA S.S. Balaji to address the waste management problem. A comprehensive final action plan needs to be developed. We hope the panchayats will also take a step forward in modernising and improving waste management practices,' Mr. Koda said.
