A vacant piece of land on Chitlapakkam Second Main Road is being used as dump yard by many.
People throw garbage disposal bags from their vehicles into the land, which has in its vicinity a Village Deputy Sanitation Centre, a Children Welfare Scheme Centre, Chitlapakkam Panchayat Town Elementary School and a Government High School.
“The problem has been persisting for years. The school children are the most affected. We are unable to open the windows. A foul odour pervades the air. We have represented the matter several times to the Chitlapakkam Town Panchayat, but no action has been taken,” a staff at Children Welfare Centre, said.
Adding to this, indiscriminate burning of garbage continues unabated. “On November 30, 2012, a few rag-pickers set fire to the garbage. Stoked by heavy winds, the fire spread and destroyed several file papers at the centre. We had to increase the height of the wall around the centre,” he said. An official at the Chitlapakkam Post Office said, “The students and teachers of the Government high school face several health problems due to burning of garbage. People have been burning unsegregated garbage and in recent times the practice has increased considerably.”
“Despite home-to-home garbage collection by the panchayat, people still throw garbage in the open. The rag pickers scatter and set fire to it. People should co-operate with the conservancy staff and dispose of the garbage in the bins,” S. Vijayalakshmi, a resident of Chitlapakkam said.
The residents have repeatedly met officials asking them to stop burning of garbage, but their requests have fallen on deaf ears, she adds.
