CHENNAI: Two months after Express reported a smoldering landfill between two wards in Madambakkam that was suffocating residents with toxic smoke, the government has finally heard the hoarse coughs coming out of the Dhenupuri Housing Colony located near the dump. The Kancheepuram Collectorate on August 31 accepted the petition of residents from the 15 wards of Madambakkam against the dumping of waste in an 80-cent plot between ward 3 and 4. The residents have been assured that steps would be taken to dump the waste of the the 15 wards in Keerapakkam village.
After numerous protests, the residents submitted an online petition affixed with an article by the New Indian Express titled - Living life in a sea of garbage and smell on 28/6/17 to the executive officer, Madambakkam municipal office on July 4. This was forwarded to the District Collectorate.
“A proposal has been sent to the government for allocation of land for dumping waste in Keerapakkam,” the reply from the Collectorate said. “For years we got just verbal assurances about closing down of the landfill,” said Mahesh, a resident who took an initiative to lodge an online complaint. “Finally, the assurances have been given in black and white,” he said.
The government, however, denied setting fire to the landfill to make way for the daily influx of 5 tonnes of domestic waste and said anti-social elements were responsible for setting fire to the trash. Dumping of waste in Keerapakkam is expected to begin by late 2017 and early 2018.