SALEM: The Salem City Municipal Corporation (SCMC) has warned action against people who throw garbage into waterbodies and sewage channels.
Every day, the SCMC generates 350 to 400 tonnes of garbage in 60 wards. Cleanliness workers remove the garbage and segregate it as biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. The SCMC uses biodegradable waste to make manure at 13 micro composting centres in four zones and it is then given to farmers.
Similarly, vegetable and fruit waste generated in the city is taken to a biogas plant in Vaikkalpattarai and power generated from it is used for street lights and pumping water to overhead tanks in the locality. Gas is generated from meat waste at a plant at Shevapet burial ground (ward 25) and used for cremation.
Even though the SCMC had taken these steps to keep the city clean, the public continues to litter roads and dump waste into waterbodies. Plastic bottles and covers thrown in sewage channels block the flow of water and lead to sewage overflowing on roads in many places. To curb this, the SCMC has warned the public against throwing waste in public places, waterbodies and sewage channels.
Speaking to TNIE, SCMC Commissioner T Christuraj said, "CCTV cameras have been installed in various places in the city to identify violators and they will be met with action. Residents should also refrain from dumping garbage in the open, even if the place is owned by them. The Corporation has placed compactor bins at 756 locations and 141 light motor vehicles have been deployed to collect garbage. Residents can give the waste to the cleanliness workers who visit streets every day or dump it in the compactor bins."
If anyone is found dumping garbage, especially plastic items, in open places, sewage channels or waterbodies, action will be taken against them under sections 41 and 44 of the Public Health Act 1939, the Commissioner warned.