At the TNSCB tenements in Sathyavani Muthu Nagar on St. Mary’s Road in Mandaveli, residents find garbage disposal an unpalatable task. They follow a “built-in” process, and that is what makes it all nauseating for them.
A garbage chute is integral to each block, which has three floors. There are four poky little flats on each floor. At each floor level, there is a square-shaped opening on the chute for residents to throw their garbage into. Now, the chute disgorges all the waste in a landing area at the bottom, making the space smelly. Residents staying on the ground floor suffer the most.
Foul smell
Poorna Sriram, a resident of Saradapuram, a neighbourhood close to the tenements, says the entire lane reeks of garbage and the odour spreads to the neighbouring localities.
“There are over 300 families living in the apartments as well the huts in Sathya Vani Muthu Nagar. They have long been complaining about foul smell and mosquito menace due to the garbage problem. The residents are not aware of the concept of segregation at source and they just dump all their trash in the chutes. These chutes are not closed ones,” says Poorna.
Poorna and Ganga Sridhar, a key member of Sustainable Waste Management People’s Forum, recently visited the locality to observe the effectiveness of the chute system.
“It was quite evident that this system beats the idea of waste management as wet and dry waste, and sanitary waste was piled up in one spot. The conservancy workers have a tough time separating non-biodegradable waste from wet waste,” says Ganga.
‘Give us bins’
The residents too want the chutes closed.
“Conservancy workers are supposed to clear the trash every day but sometimes, they don’t come for days and all the waste just rots here. We are unable to bear the stench and mosquitoes and flies swarm over the trash. I have been hearing about garbage segregation in my college and it will be better if the Corporation places colour-coded bins in our neighbourhood too so we don’t have to live with mounds of garbage right in front of our homes,” says a young resident, on condition of anonymity.
Responsible planning
According to Ganga, solid waste management can be successful only if everyone becomes a shareholder in it. As far as chute systems are concerned, especially in high rise buildings, the planners and builders should weigh in the pros and cons.
“Many high-rise apartments coming up in and around Mylapore and Mandaveli have refuse chutes. However, the builders and architects should look at including a composting unit in gated communities as dumping waste in a chute is not going to solve the garbage crisis.”
An architect’s take
Centralised chute systems make the daily task of garbage disposal easier, especially in a high-rise apartment complex with hundreds of families where door-to-door collection may be difficult, says Archita S., an architect based in the city.
She suggests that two chute systems could possibly enable the segregation of wet and dry waste.
“A refuse chute or not, garbage crisis can be tackled only if residents start segregating and recycling. Even with a segregated chute system, they could still dump mixed waste into them. The community must take an active role in reducing the generation of waste, segregate and recycle. Each resident welfare association must take the responsibility to raise awareness about source segregation and implement it in their locality,” adds Archita.
CHENNAI, 26/12/2018: For Downtown: A view of the slum tenements on Sathya Vani Muthu Nagar, St. Mary's Road in Mandaveli. Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu
