Students of CSI Middle School on Raghavan Street in Permabur are greeted by five green bins, right outside the campus. Conservancy workers of Greater Chennai Corporation use this space to unload and segregate waste.
Ragahvan Street is narrow except for a few spots, which include the space in front of the school premises. So, this space has been found to be convenient to park those garbage bins.
These bins generally overflow with garbage, and the space reeks of putrefying waste. Besides, the bins are an obstruction.
Naturally, parents of the schoolchildren as well as the school authorities don’t like the presence of these bins.
From small eateries to hawkers, everyone finds it convenient to dump waste in the row of garbage bins kept along the school compound.
“Stray dogs and cattle feed on the leftovers from the overflowing bins. Motorists and pedestrians, which include schoolchildren, are scared of using this portion of the road fearing a dog bite. Such garbage bins should be located at isolated spots rather than in front of a school,” says R. Satish Babu, a motorist from Kolathur.
Tucked away between Perambur Paper Mills Road and Madhavaram High Road, the S-shaped Raghavan Street has many old buildings. It is a valuable link road for motorists seeking to reach Paper Mills Road from Madhavaram High Road and vice versa.
As per norms, garbage from street-corner bins should be collected on a daily basis by the Corporation. However, on many streets including Raghavan street, garbage in street-corner bins is not collected regularly, sometimes only twice a week.
During weekends, the stink from the accumulated garbage can be unbearable.
For many years, residents, parents and school authorities have been requesting local civic officials to relocate the garbage bins.
Further, the bins also occupy a sizeable portion of the street at this spot, resulting in traffic chaos during rush hour.
A few residents have also been mulling over the idea of asking the Corporation to start door-to-door collection of waste and to get rid of the bins on the street.
By shifting the bins, we are passing on the problem to another location. A binless street would be a long-term solution, says a resident.
“Steps will be taken to relocate the garbage bins in front of the school soon,” said a Corporation official.
