Years ago, next to the bus stops on the promenade of the Marina — as also those on the other side of Kamarajar Salai — Greater Chennai Corporation installed medium-sized bins for people to drop wet and dry waste.
Part of an almost unitary design, the two bins were attached to rods that let them swing freely. These bins were particularly targetted at beach-goers who would board buses at these stops. It was a calculated measure and seemed to reap benefits: The bins would gather the remains of eatables picked up at shops found on the beach sands.
One such bin unit found at the bus stop opposite the TWAD office is symbolic and representative of how a majority of these waste-collection units finally winded up.
The unit holding the bins resemble a fish that has been picked to the bone. Only the iron rods are to be found; the bins have disappeared without a trace.
The unit has been subject to vandalism, as have been other units across the beach.
On the promenade, Urbaser Sumeet, the conservancy agency employed by GCC, is said to have installed 54 bins sometime ago, haivng them spaced carefully to make sure they are of optimal use to beach walkers and other visitors.
Vandals have made sure they are spaced further apart, either damaging the bins and rendering them unusable or making away with them, having wrenched them off the grills they were attached to. These 54 bins are all numbered, and one would notice that some numbers are missing.
On the service lane and around the garden areas, Greater Chennai Corporation has installed such waste-collection units. But one cannot escape a sense of these bins not being around when they are needed the most. The reason again is vandalism.
In many of the units, the bins look orphaned, with one of the two having been purloined away.
Often, the missing bin would be found lying nearby damaged, sometimes cheek by jowl with a plant, and with its mouth full of sand.
N Mahesan, chief engineer, solid waste management, Greater Chennai Corporation, says: “It beats me why people would break these bins. What do these vandals achieve by such mindless acts? But it keeps happening. We would soon be replacing broken and missing bins with new ones.”
