DHARMAPURI: The officials of Dharmapuri Fire Station located at Treasury Colony in Elakkiampatti recently put up a banner asking people’s support to construct a waste disposal shed to keep the locality clean. However, it was removed to avoid criticism.
Residents said the panchayat has a poor waste management system, and a massive pile of waste is seen piled up in front of the fire station which causes inconvenience to people. They welcomed the initiative by the fire station and condemned the panchayat officials for their failure to regulate solid waste management.
Commenting on the matter, S Sugumaran a resident of Treasury Colony said, “The panchayat is extremely negligent in solid waste management. We do not have daily waste collection, resulting in people dumping waste in front of the fire station. As door-to-door waste collection occurs once every three to four days, a massive pile of waste collects in the area.
Though the area lies close to police headquarters and the district supply office, the area is littered with trash. Recently a banner was also placed by the fire station officials to construct a secured waste shed and the residents are in support of it.”
R Bhagiyalakshmi, another resident, said, “The waste accumulated here attracts a large number of dogs and these animals usually drag the waste to the road and the sight of this is extremely displeasing and something must be done. The panchayat officials are doing nothing and the residents cannot store waste at home. When we question the panchayat officials they are siting staff shortage as the reason.”
When TNIE spoke to staff in the fire station, they said, “Initially we had put up a banner to create a waste shed. However, the plan was dropped because it is inappropriate to collect funds from the people. We would instead urge the panchayat administration to take up steps to ensure cleanliness.”
District Fire Officer P Ambika told TNIE, “It is not appropriate for the fire department officials to take up such an initiative. We would take the issue to the concerned officials and take steps to keep the locality clean.”
Officials from the Elakkiampatti panchayat were not available for comment.