Ambattur has been my family’s home for the past 37 years. I came here as a six-month-old baby. From a sleepy village, it has now developed into an urban space and is considered an extension of Annanagar and is a new member of the Chennai Corporation.
There have been many visible changes.
Proper management of garbage is the change I would like to see.
Rules have to be framed up and enforced to ensure proper disposal of garbage. Strict instructions have to be given to people to segregate garbage into degradable and non degradable. They should be taught to convert biodegradable wastes such as kitchen waste into fertilizers.
What is the use of waste segregation if the waste is disposed of in plastic bags? I would like to see the use of plastic curbed in my neighbourhood.
Retail stores and roadside shops provide plastic covers for the convenience of the customer. There seems to be no incentive for customers to carry cloth bags to the shops.
I notice that the vegetable market is situated close to the waste collecting point. Vegetable waste and waste from the fish market and broiler chicken shops fill the adjacent street. The irony is that it is next to a school.
Vendors and shoppers relieve themselves in the open and the buffaloes add to the scum. It is sad that we buy shoes from air-conditioned malls but vegetables and proteins from dirty markets and road side vendors. The next change I would like to see is integrated waste management in the market place which would support a healthier lifestyle.
The mono rail project initially was supposed to go through Ambattur, connecting Ponamalee with the Redhills. But the plan was dropped as it was found to be financially unviable. State highway 112 was supposed to connect Thirumangalam with outer ring road bypassing Ambattur and thereby decongesting the MTH road.
This plan too was not realised. Such plans could help ease travel to and within Ambattur and the industrial estate. Other routes have to be created to ease Ambattur of heavy traffic.
These changes I think would make life easier. Rules have to be implemented earnestly, and the requisite infrastructure should be put in place. People should be compelled to fall in line and the results will be for all to see.
(S. Divya is a IIIrd year B.E. student of RMK Engineering College, Kavarapettai)
