COIMBATORE:The quantum of garbage collected at the Vellalore dumpyard on Wednesday morning was slightly more than the usual quantity than the usual days, predictably due to the crackers used as part of Deepavali celebration across the 100 wards in the city's limits.
Usually, the dumpyard gets between 750 and 800 tonnes of mixed waste. Even though sanitary workers cleared garbage at RS Puram, Gandhipuram and Ganapathy, public in several other places complained that sanitary workers did not even turn up to clear garbage since Wednesday morning.
“We expect that at least on Thursday morning, sanitary staff would clear the garbage piles. Garbage including cracker waste has been overflowing from bins and on roadsides,” said Nandakumar, DMK councillor.
“The city corporation officials already know that there would be additional garbage pile up during Deepavali. This clearly shows that corporation officials are acting in a very lethargic manner,” said DMK councillor, SM Samy.
PV Subramaniam, DMK councillor, said that out of 16 workers, only four came for work on Wednesday, and they could not carry out the entire works across ward 47.
Due to incessant rains, lakhs of residents living around the Vellalore dumpyard are facing serious trouble.
“Whenever a contractor at the dumpyard starts carrying out garbage clearing work, we experience a very bad stench. The stench has been unbearable during the last one-and-half months. The civic body has also failed to control breeding of flies. The civic body officials are promising a lot about controlling flies and the stench. But, nothing works,” said Daniel, RTI activist.
Rain Fails to Dampen Festive Spirit
Intermittent rain was no deterrent to the city's residents as they celebrated Deepavali by bursting crackers and lighting up the skies with fireworks.
District Fire Officer S R Chandran said no fireworks-related mishaps were reported on festival day, adding that only a coconut tree caught fire after a lit rocket fell on it.
The district has received moderate rainfall over the last 24 hours ending on Wednesday.
Annur, Periyanacikenpalayam and Mettupalayam recorded 4 mm each. While Sulur recorded 3 mm and Makinampatti (Pollachi) received 2 mm rainfall. Coimbatore recorded an average rainfall of 1.41 mm on Deepavali day.
Similarly, catchments of Parambikulam Aliyar reservior also received good rainfall.
The water level at Aliyar dam near Pollachi has reached 110.70 feet as against its height of 120 feet. The water level at Tirumurthy dam is 47.65 feet as against its height of 60 feet.
Barring visibility issues resulting from misty conditions, the rain has not induced any major incidents causing loss of life or damage to property.
The Fire and Rescue Services department has not received any calls for rain-related rescue operations over the past two days, Chandran said.