The Hindu 02.11.2010
‘Do not dump garbage indiscriminately’
Special Correspondent
Photo: P. Goutham

Focus on clean city:Rally taken out in Salem on Monday to mark Local
Administration Day. —
SALEM: Agriculture Minister Veerapandi S. Arumugam has urged the
people of Salem not to throw garbage indiscriminately and help the
administration in maintaining the city neat and tidy.
The Minister after flagging off a rally to mark the Local
Administration Day, organised by Salem Corporation here on Monday, said
that business enterprises, traders and others, including general public,
should avoid using plastic, which he said had caused more environmental
problems by chocking the water bodies and also drainage systems.
Cloth bags
He told them to use cloth bags while going for purchase in shops.
The Corporation had also requested the public not to dump waste
including construction materials, plastics waste and other garbage into
Tirumanimutharu, which it pointed out, had been renovated and restored
as a major water drainage channel for the city at a whopping cost. The
dumping of waste had led to stagnation of water, which in turn had
become the active breeding ground for mosquitoes.
The Minister also distributed free cloth bags as a part of the
campaign against the indiscriminate dumping of waste at all places in
the city. The rally in which the participants carried placards
highlighting the ills of plastic cups, bags and other items covered
important streets and roads in the city. They warned the people not to
buy any hot beverages and eatables in plastic bags, which would cause
cancer.
Mayor J. Rekha Priyadarshini, Corporation Commissioner K. S.
Palanuisamy, Deputy Mayor C. Paneerselvam, officials and councillors
took part.