The Hindu       21.07.2016 

Garbage poses health hazard to residents

Irregular clearance of garbage in various parts of the district has been posing a serious health hazard for the past few months resulting in foul smell. The garbage is not being cleared daily and regularly but only on a weekly basis at several places, say the residents.

While Karaikal is a municipal town, the other major local bodies – Neravy, Nedungadu, Kottucherry, Tirunallar and T.R. Pattinam — are commune panchayats in the district.

Given the strong seasonal winds, the garbage is found strewn all around the residential areas in the town as well as Kottucherry and Nedungadu.

The worst-hit is the Nedungadu Commune Panchyat where the panchayat workers, including the conservancy workers, desist from clearing the garbage. The workers claimed non-disbursement of salary for the past few months had forced them to resort to relay strike.

Jaisingh, president of the Government Employees Federation, said that the workers were left with no option but to resort to the strike.

He said that paucity of funds stood in the way for disbursing the salary to the employees.

There has been an increase in the volume of garbage, particularly waste food, meat, parotta and plastic waste, says N. Gandhirajan, Municipal Commissioner, Karaikal.

He told The Hindu that the municipality handled 50 tonnes of solid waste daily, which was just 35 tonnes a couple of years ago.

“The increase in the number of residential colonies in the town has contributed to the rise in the volume of garbage,” he added.

Facing the difficulty in segregating the degradable and non-degradable waste materials, the municipality has planned to introduce door-to-door collection of bio-degradable and non-degradable waste in a couple of months, he added.

Polythene waste was a major problem in the town, partly due to the presence of a large number of bars.

The Hindu        21.07.2016  

Flex banners banned in Namakkal municipal limits

With unauthorised flex banners and other advertisement materials causing traffic congestion on the roads in the town, the district administration has banned all such materials in the municipal limits from July 22.

An all-party meeting was held here on Tuesday to discuss the road safety measures. Chaired by Namakkal Revenue Divisional Officer M. Kannan, K.P.P. Baskar MLA, municipal officials, traders and members of various political parties participated in the meeting.

The issue of frequent traffic congestion on Park Road near Uzhavar Santhai, near Bus Stand and Salem Road corner was discussed.

Participants said that erecting of large size flex banners consume more space and also pose a threat to road users.

The issue of shopkeepers encroaching road space outside Uzhavar Santhai that causes congestion in the morning hours was also discussed.

It was decided to close the entry point on the Park Road. It was decided to ban erecting flex banners in the municipal limits from July 22 and remove the existing banners in the next two days.

From 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. sand-laden lorries and other heavy vehicles were allowed to pass through the town to join the Trichy Road. However, with poor monitoring in place, lorries enter even during the day time causing much hardship to the road users. Hence, public sought monitoring of the lorries that enter during day time.

An all-party meeting was held on Tuesday to discuss road safety measures