The Hindu 03.04.2013
Rotten fruits, vegetables pile up on roadsides
An unbearable foul smell greets people visiting Nethaji market.
Take a walk down one of the streets connecting the Nethaji market and many other vegetable markets in the town and you’re likely to find yourself looking at heaps of rotting fruit and vegetables dumped on the sides and the drainage channels.
An unbearable foul smell will greet you.
Though the Erode Corporation urged the vendors to put a stop to the illegal dumping, the practice continues in most parts of the town. Tonnes of vegetable and fruit waste end up on the roadsides, and sometime in the drains, as the civic body is not able to ensure regular collection. The wholesale markets and farmers markets (uzhavar santhai) are among the major generators of biodegradable waste.
“The civic body is not ensuring a regular collection at the markets. Sometimes, the waste remains uncollected for two to three days. Hundreds of tonnes of vegetables and fruits are handled in Nethaji market and other markets in the town every day,” R. Sivakumar, a trader points out.
“Even the vendors, who are selling the fruits and vegetables in push carts, dump the unsold vegetables on the streets and drains. The neighbourhood retail stores also often resort to the dumping of unsold, rotting vegetables on the streets.
As the civic body is not collecting waste properly, heaps of waste remain uncollected for days together, posing serious threat to the public health,” points out S.A. Chandran, a resident Surampatty.
Civic officials agree that the practice of dumping fruit and vegetable waste is a problem of long standing in the town.
Truck and van operators, who transport the vegetables and fruits to the markets, are the main culprits.
They dump the goods on the roadsides that are not accepted by the traders in the market.
Corporation Commissioner M. Vijayalakshmi promised that steps would be taken to collect waste multiple times in a day at the markets and selected places in the town.
