PERAMBALUR: Mentioning that the installation of metal bins in all panchayats of the district has done little to curb the practice of garbage dumping in the open and the containers to have instead become damaged beyond use, residents seek their removal and implementation of alternative solid waste management measures. With the district adhering to Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, every panchayat in the district during 2018-19 placed orders for metal garbage bins as needed and procured them under the 14th Central Finance Commission Grant.
Each container costs around Rs 20,000, official sources said. The bins were meant for the public to dump their garbage into in the event of sanitation workers not turning up to undertake regular house-to-house collection. The practice of dumping garbage in the open, however, continued unchecked, with some throwing waste by the bins and then into it. With this, the metal bins lying in disuse have rusted and turned useless, residents said.
They hence seek the authorities concerned to remove unused bins and have garbage collected and disposed of properly. V Thennarasan, a resident of Vayalur, said, "We do not know on what basis permission was given to panchayats to install the bins. They are so tall so that people cannot dump garbage into them and also empty them. They were installed without foresight. This has wasted government money."
Another resident, S Samy Ayya of K Eraiyur, said, "The bins are found damaged and turned topsy-turvy by the roadside in many panchayats, including mine. People instead are dumping and burning garbage in public places and water bodies." When contacted, a District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) official said, "We know the containers are lying in disuse in some panchayats. We will check and put them to use soon.