The Times of India 24.08.2010
The garbage mountain of Athipet
CHENNAI: It is literally a mountain of garbage at Athipet in Ambattur where the heap of rubbish in the five-acre compost stands at over 50ft.
Unable to bear the foul smell and the menace of mosquitos and house flies caused by the dumping of garbage there, people living in about ten residential colonies around the compost yard are up in arms against the Ambattur municipality with the rain over the last couple of days turning the situation from bad to worse.
They want the municipality not to dump garbage there anymore and shift the compost yard from the area immediately.
With about 250 tonnes of garbage being dumped every day, the mountain' can be seen even from half a kilometre distance. The municipality has deployed three earthmovers at various levels of the 'mountain' that add to its height by transferring garbage brought in by lorries. One of the earthmovers keeps levelling the peak so that more rubbish can be heaped.
Many residents complained that the filthy smell emanating from the garbage was causing breathing problems, burning sensation and stomach ailments while mosquitoes were causing fever.
"We cannot put up with the situation anymore. We can't eat, sleep or even walk on the main road. We can't keep the doors and the windows open. Initially, the municipality told us it would be made a compost yard to facilitate safe disposal of garbage but now it is just garbage dumping yard and nothing more," said Tamil Kannan, a resident in Ayappakkam.
"Problems of house flies is another major issue. We can never leave the food open here because in no time flies begin feasting on it. People in Ayappakkam, TG Anna Nagar, Housing Board Colony, New Century Colony, ICF Colony, Gopalasamy Nagar and Athipet are the worst affected. Many people here have vacated their houses and some of them have even sold their properties because of the problems caused by the dumping yard," said Adhithyan, an office-goer who resides in Athipet.
Some of the youth associations in the locality are planning to stage a demonstration in front of the Ambattur municipality in a couple of weeks.
Municipal officials said five local bodies in the suburbs including Ambattur municipality had jointly bought 50 acres of land near Sriperumbudur to be used as a dumping yard. "Once we start using it, Athipet compost yard will be made into a garbage transfer station," a senior official in the municipality told The Times of India.
