The Hindu 20.12.2011
Garbage piles up, hygiene comes down
EYESORE: The accumulated garbage behind the fish market, which causes
unbearable stench at the junction of Kripananda Variar Road and Anna
Bazaar in Vellore. — Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan
The accumulation of garbage continues to be a problem in
the residential and commercial areas in Vellore Corporation since the
concept of daily collection of garbage from houses and shops is yet to
be implemented in the Vellore Corporation.
The people
in the erstwhile town panchayats of Allapuram and Thorappadi, who hoped
that things would turn for the better after the annexation of these
local bodies to the Vellore Corporation are disappointed that things
have not improved except for the fact that the Corporation has placed
dumper dustbins on Azad Road in Thorappadi and in different parts of
Allapuram. But the practice of dumping garbage on vacant plots
continues.
In the absence of daily collection, the
accumulating garbage causes an unbearable stench in places like
Kumaraswamy Street Extension in Thorappadi and Khaderpet in Chinna
Allapuram. The garbage is cleared only once a week or in 10 days.
The
residents of Kumaraswamy Street Extension dumped garbage on a vacant
plot since the plastic bin that was kept there was burnt along with the
garbage which was burnt by the residents about two years ago.
The
residents want a steel dumper bin to be placed there to facilitate the
dumping of garbage in the bin and prevent the dumping on the vacant plot
and the resultant health hazard.
The shop-keepers on
Kripananda Variar Road (Long Bazaar) complained of unbearable stench
from the garbage accumulating in the place behind the fish market. The
problem has aggravated after the crumbling of the wall of the market
selling bamboo baskets on Anna Bazaar, adjacent to the fish market. The
shop-keepers dump the garbage over the wall into the space behind the
fish market.
The volume of garbage has increased
after this, and though the Corporation workers remove the garbage every
day, it is not removed completely, as a result of which the stench
continues for the whole day, complain shop-keepers. They want the
garbage to be removed completely before the opening of the shops daily.
When
asked about the steps taken by the Corporation to address the problem
of accumulating garbage, Seeni Ajmal Khan, Commissioner of Vellore
Corporation told
The Hindu
that the State government has sanctioned Rs.20 crore to the Corporation
under the Urban Development Mission, of which Rs.five crore has been
sanctioned for solid waste management (SWM).
After
the annexation of nearby town panchayats to Vellore Corporation, the
latter is handicapped by the shortage of vehicles used for removal of
garbage and the shortage of drivers.
The problem of
accumulating garbage behind the fish market was due to the fact the
existing excavator vehicle is engaged full time in the compost yard in
Sadupperi.
The Corporation proposed to buy four
dumper placer vehicles which would collect the garbage stored in the
steel dumper bins placed in various roads in the Corporation area, two
compacter vehicles for transporting the garbage in a compacted position
to the Sadupperi compost yard, and about 200 push-carts and tricycles.
Once
the new vehicles were purchased, the problem of accumulating garbage
could be solved. Besides, the Corporation proposed to engage
ex-servicemen drivers to operate the vehicles involved in collection and
transport of garbage, he said. The Commissioner said that the
Corporation proposed to hand over the SWM project in the Corporation to
the private sector on a BOT (build-operate-transfer) basis.
Since
the Corporation generated about 175 tonnes of garbage daily, the
entrusting of the work to a private agency would facilitate the daily
collection of garbage, scientific processing of garbage, and a solution
to the environmental problem.
After obtaining a
consultancy report, the Corporation would call for tenders for
entrusting the SWM to a private agency, he said.