Prominent tourism destinations in the city, which lack proper security and surveillance measures, are slowly becoming waste dumping grounds.
Surroundings of the Sarovaram Bio Park, which currently has an area of over five acres of land, is the worst-hit in the reckless dumping of trash, both industrial and domestic.
Areas rich with mangroves and plants inside the park are on the verge of ruin in the practice, where the situation is becoming worse with the monsoon gaining strength.
Though cleaning drives are occasionally conducted in the area to ensure a clean ambience inside the park, the surroundings are surprisingly left out from such drives.
‘Kalipoika,’ a small pond inside the park for promoting water tourism, is also facing the threat with delayed measures to ensure proper protection from such pollution attempts. Recently, the boating service here has been stopped after it was found that slaughterhouse waste had been dumped inside the pond.
Probe
“We are currently investigating the case, but, there is no reliable clue on people who made the attempt to pollute,” said a police official from Medical College station.
After the incident, police patrolling has been strengthened in the area with the support of nearby police stations, he said.
To address the issue, the District Tourism Promotion Council Authorities have already been asked to check the possibility of installing Closed Circuit Television cameras at important locations. Though there were earlier suggestions to install CCTV cameras inside the park, it was given up following objections from various corners. On the other hand, the lack of sufficient number of waste bins and collection facilities is a big issue for the city’s important beach tourism destinations, where people indiscriminately throw pet bottles, plastic carry bags, and food wastes on the sand bank. Also, as no treatment facilities are available on the spot, corporation employees or cleaning labourers set the waste heaps afire along the road.
