Porur Link Road in Chennai is filled with wastes from the neighbouring villages
Posted on: 11/Jul/2018 9:56:36 AM
Porur Link Road in Chennai is now making sensational news and it has become cynosure of many eyes now. Tractors dump solid waste collected from 5500 households of Vanagaram village every day is a common site in this Porur Link Road and this has been creating issues for the public. Till the corporation truck comes and takes away these solid wastes in the noon, around 3 tonnes of solid wastes are found lying on the road. Not only that, the smell coming from the solid waste is unbearable and is a cause of concern. It must be noted that these solid waste would be carried to Kodungaiyur landfill later. The driver of the truck spoke about how he already knew that the solid wastes were from the neighbouring Vanagaram village. He also spoke about how every alternative day he has been collecting it.
It is important to mention here that this Porur Link Road is not the only place where the solid wastes are dumped. Neighbouring villages have been dumping wastes on the fringes or borders of the Greater Chennai Corporation or GCC also. Around 200 tonnes of garbage is dumped every day by villages of Iyyapanthangal, Alapakkam, Keelkattalai etc.
Chennai is considered as the dump yard now because of the inadequate space and resources for solid waste management. This was confirmed by the local bodies that run these villages and towns.
To set up solid waste management plant for Rs 50 lakh, the local body had sent a proposal to the state government. This was confirmed by none other than former Vanagaram panchayat president, Mr. N.V. Srinivasan. He spoke about how the government had not funded it. He later highlighted that any land chosen to dump waste was opposed by the villagers. The corporation of Chennai could not do anything to stop the illegal dumping. It must not be forgotten that in 2016-17 civic body was requested by 12 village panchayats with 200 small villages to handle their waste. Amount of Rs 679 per tonne of waste to be paid to the civic body was decided but corporation had declined that.
An engineer who is in-charge of solid waste management spoke about how in Chennai there has been struggle with respect to waste generation and how permission was denied. Since they are part of the government they could not be penalized.
Chennai city based conservationist, Mr. Dharmesh Shah is of the opinion that political intervention could resolve this issue of dumping of wastes. He later spoke about how the government must follow the rules of solid waste management and find a way to resolve the problem.
Founder and president of National Solid Waste Association of India, Mr. Amiya Kumar Sahu, explained how lack of land could not be given as a reason by the panchayats as no land would be available for dumping of wastes. He also threw light on how composting of waste would be superb and how that could be sold to the farmers plus residences. He also hinted that dry wastes could be accumulated and later sold in bulk to companies.
