Post-pongal, there has been a sharp rise in the volume of garbage generated in the city. Although the Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has taken efforts to handle the situation, the problem doesn’t seem to be receding soon.
Worst hit is the Gandhi Market area where the stray cattle are back on the streets, after a brief recess, thanks largely to the abundant availability of garbage.
Traders point out that pollution caused due to the dumping of garbage has become a huge problem in the area.
G.Kathiravan, a banana commission agent, said the problem may be due to the delay in clearing of garbage by the private conservancy staff. As bananas have arrived in large quantity for the Pongal festival, the fruit bunches were piled up on the roadside.
At a place not far away from the mandy, private sanitary workers dump the garbage collected from the residential areas and nearby wards for sorting and uploading.
“Previously, only biodegradable market wastes were dumped by the traders at the place. But now, these private conservancy staff dump all kinds of waste for sorting, and any delay in clearing it leads to accumulation of garbage; privatisation had done more harm than good for the traders and public,” he said. A large number of banana farmers who come to the area want construction of a pay-and-use toilet in the East Boulevard Road to avoid open defecation by farmers, van drivers, and visitors.
Corporation officials conceded that there has been a sudden increase in the volume of garbage, particularly after Pongal.
The civic body attached priority for rapid clearing of garbage in the Gandhi Market area where 20 private sanitary workers have been deployed in addition to the Corporation’s regulars.
Against the daily average of 400 tonnes, the city has started generating about 440 tonnes of garbage in the past few weeks – a phenomenon normally witnessed during Pongal. The problem would ease within a few days, an official source said.
