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.
