Bheema Nagar awash with garbage mounds

‘They pose a health hazard and civic body is not listening’

Since garbage collection is erratic, residents of Bheema Nagar in Tiruchi dump them on the roadside.

Residents of Bheema Nagar in the city, irked by mushrooming garbage piles in their locality, complain that the civic body is ignoring their pleas.

Bheema Nagar, a residential area off Heber Road, presents a picture of garbage mounds at road corners, much to the dismay of residents. The garbage is being dumped in the open due to irregular waste collection by the civic body, the residents say.

Garbage is collected only on alternate days, says Ghouse Baig, a consumer activist. “The work was streamlined a year ago, but since the COVID-19 lockdown, matters have gotten out of hand. The civic body seems to be ignoring the public’s pleas,” he says.

A large mound of garbage, including food waste from a nearby community hall and a school was especially bad. This is a health hazard and can cause infections, he says.

Mr. Baig questions the intention of the civic body in setting up modern garbage collection bins under the Smart Cities Mission programme. The bins, purchased at a cost of ₹17 crore, would feature sensors to alert sanitary workers to clear them. “We had large metal bins and many open dumping sites are where such bins used to be. Now they are spending crores worth of money to replace the bins. So what is the intention of the civic body?” he asks.

The Tiruchi City Corporation has, in May 2019, declared that nearly 95% of the 1,172 large bins across the city were removed to make it mandatory for residents to hand over domestic waste directly to sanitary workers arriving with pushcarts or light commercial vehicles. Residents and activists claim that the plan backfired and has resulted in the increasing garbage pile-up in several parts of the city.