As the tourist season begins in Kodaikanal, focus shifts to waste management in the town which starts to burst at the seams.
This constricted approach to waste management, say activists, limits the very concept of keeping the fragile eco-sphere safe. They point out that many forget that there are 15 panchayats in Kodaikanal block and if waste management should succeed on the hills then waste segregation should begin from these panchayats.
On the ghat road at about 8 km before Kodaikanal, lies Adukkam panchayat. For many, a little overhanging curved ledge that looks on to a beautiful view of the rolling hills, is a pit stop to drink in the view. Getting out of the car is a tricky business as garbage is littered all along the side of the ghat road.
Stepping a little further onto the ledge, one will be assaulted by the putrid smell of decaying food waste, broken bottles and heaps of plastic waste. The waste, especially empty plastic bags can be seen rolling down the slope and during the rainy season, the waste is washed away into the streams flowing down the hills. People running little shops on the side who also dump their waste here, say sanitary workers from Adukkam panchayat dump the garbage on the hill side.
In order to hide the blight, the panchayat has tried to cover the dumpyard by erecting a green cloth mesh around the spot. But what remains are torn pieces of the mesh flying in the breeze.
Balaganesan, a cab driver, says that seeing the waste being dumped on the roadside many tourists add to the waste by throwing used plastic bottles and wrappers.
Activists say that this unethical manner of dumping waste is prevalent in all the panchayats in Kodaikanal hills. With homestays coming up in fringe areas that were once farmlands, dumping of waste in the hills is a common sight.
“This waste dumped by Adukkam panchayat you are able to see because it is on the ghat road. But there are umpteen spots within the reserved areas near to Poondi, Poomparai etc., where people running homestays are dumping their waste. One reason is that villages do not have proper composting facilities and the other reason being that homestays are given on lease and being a business enterprise no thought is given to the fragile environment”, says an activist.
I. Nagarajan, Assistant Director Panchayats, admits that there are issues regarding waste management in Kodaikanal panchayats. “We are taking the help of NGOs and we are hoping that soon a system will be in place that will help us not just segregate waste at the source but also help us to dispose of the non-biodegradable waste,” he said.
