PERAMBALUR: Residents of Nochiyam are a worried lot, as the panchayat has allegedly started dumping garbage on the banks of the Marudaiyaru once again after four months.
According to sources, waste was being collected in Nochiyam under the Clean India Mission on a door-to-door basis and segregated for five years. However, instead of storing the waste in a dump at the village, the panchayat had started dumping the collected waste along the banks of the Marudaiyaru.
Residents complained about this to the panchayat, the Collector's office and the CM's special cell. Based on a news report which appeared in The New Indian Express last February, authorities removed the garbage from the river and its banks in August and also promised that the practice would not continue.
However, residents alleged on Tuesday that the panchayat has once again started dumping and burning waste on the banks of the river.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Nochiyam resident T Sivakumar said, "After a long struggle, we managed to stop the dumping of garbage in and near the river. Now, the panchayat has started dumping and burning garbage on the banks once again."
"When I inquired about this, panchayat president Azhamelu Ravichandran replied that they would continue to do so. This makes us very sad. Burning garbage pollutes the air and causes respiratory problems. I have made an oral complaint in this regard to the Public Works Department and the Village Administrative Officer. I hope they take serious action," he added.
Another resident B Muthukumar said, "Dumping garbage on the banks of the river will actually make our cattle eat it along with harmful plastics. This is sure to cause serious health issues. The waste found along the river banks might get washed away when it rains, thereby polluting the river and groundwater too. Why can't the authorities store garbage properly, and why should they dump it near waterbodies?"
When contacted by The New Indian Express, Azhamelu Ravichandran said, "We have no place to dump the garbage. So we dump them near the river and burn them."