TIRUPATTUR: Massive mountains of garbage have taken over an eight-acre dumpyard located less than 100 metres from the Tirupattur–Krishnagiri State Highway.
Almost every day, smoke rises from the site as plastic bottles, packaging waste, and discarded clothes smoulder continuously. For over 10,000 people who reside nearby, the fires have become a grim routine.
In January alone, two fires were reported on January 12 and 19. When this TNIE reporter visited the dumpyard on January 20, smoke continued to billow from several points.
68-year-old R. Srikantha, who has lived within 200 metres from the dumpyard for over five decades, said a major fire in 2024 marked a turning point. “I watched the flames grow through my window. When I opened the door, I couldn’t step outside. The air was completely black with smoke. Traffic came to a halt, and we were trapped inside our homes,” she said.
The fire burned for nearly a week that year, forcing her to leave for Yelagiri for four days. “This was an agricultural land in the late 1970s. It slowly became a dumpyard. Fires were occasional earlier, but over the last decade, they have almost become a monthly occurrence,” Srikantha said.
The frequency of the fires has weakened the emergency response, residents alleged.
“On January 19, we called 101 early in the morning. They asked for the address but arrived late. By then, thick smoke had already choked the area,” Sukanya Rajendran, a resident, said.
Health and water at risk
Keeping doors and windows closed is better than ventilation in homes here. “It burns throughout the day. Breathing has become difficult,” said Valarmathi G, a resident of Garuda Sevai Mandapam area (located within 500 metres from the dumpyard), adding that respiratory illnesses are now common.
Groundwater contamination has worsened access to water. “The borewell water turned yellow years ago. We stopped using it,” said a resident, requesting anonymity, who now depends entirely on purchased water cans. “The cost keeps increasing, but we have no choice.”
Waste spills and safety fears
Residents in the nearby streets alleged irregular waste collection by the municipality. “They don’t come unless we call,” said Kanchana, another resident. She added that even when waste is collected, it is dumped back at the same site.
With the compound wall broken for over a year, garbage spills onto the road. Being unsegregated, the waste has turned the area into a breeding ground for rodents, snakes, and mosquitoes. “Pigs and snakes roam freely,” Kanchana said.
Safety concerns have further restricted daily life, particularly for women. “After 6 pm, we don’t step out. To reach our homes, we have to cross the dumpyard, where groups of men gather to drink or smoke. Walking at night is not an option,” she said.
Residents also accused municipal workers of deliberately burning waste. The municipality officials have denied this allegation and blamed “anti-social elements” for the fires.
‘Kuppamedu’
“People don’t know this place by its official name anymore. Autorickshaw drivers recognise it only as ‘Kuppamedu’,” another resident said. The presence of the dumpyard has erased the area’s original identity, and tenants who move in here often vacate houses within days due to the pollution.
Despite repeated petitions submitted to the District Collector and Municipal Commissioner since 2017 seeking relocation of the dumpyard, little has changed, residents have said.
Municipal Commissioner Shanthi denied that the municipality burns waste, stating that waste management follows Swachh Bharat Mission guidelines. Waste is segregated, she said. Wet waste is processed at five micro-composting centres, and dry waste is recycled or sent to cement factories.
Relocating the dumpyard is not possible due to the lack of available alternative land, officials said. Instead, the municipality has proposed an ₹85-lakh project to rebuild the compound wall (proposed to be completed within three months), install additional CCTV cameras, deploy security personnel, and undertake bio-mining to be done this year. Officials added that bio-mining carried out in 2024 controlled the fires.
For residents, the assurances offer little relief. “Every year there is a new promise,” one said. “But the fires never stop.”