CHENNAI: When the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change called for ‘decentralised’ handling of solid waste by local bodies in the Solid Waste Management Rules (2016), they definitely did not mean burning waste collected in the same ward itself. But that is exactly what the Madambakkam Town Panchayat is doing.
Residents alleged that workers of the NGO entrusted with conservancy operation are burning non-recyclable plastic waste in empty plots and forcing them to inhale carcinogenic fumes whenever there is accumulation of plastic waste on the streets.
“The workers set fire to the waste instead of taking it to the dumpyard for processing,” said V Lokesh, a software engineer, residing in Parvathy Nagar, on the areas worst affected by this irresponsible disposal of waste.
Residents of ALS Nagar and Yeshwant Nagar claimed that conservancy, which is also affected by this issue, claimed that this happens whenever complaints are lodged about garbage pile- up. “They usually set flame to the garbage early in the morning and vanish,” said a senior citizen, claiming the neighbours end up blaming each other.
A conservancy worker of ‘Hand In Hand’ told Express that some workers only set fire to the waste which has no value. “The thick plastic such as wrappers of big chips companies and milk covers have recyclable value so they are collected carefully, the other thinner types have no value so they set those on fire,” the worker said.
When contacted, Selvan, the conservancy supervisor, denied such happenings. “All workers have been instructed to bring the waste to the sorting area and strict action will be taken if they burn the waste,” Selvan said.
Earlier, Express had reported how the former dumpyard of the panchayat was set on fire. But now the waste is being cleared from there and dumping of new waste has been prohibited. While this is a welcome move, the lack of a dumping facility for non recyclable waste has resulted in waste being burned in empty plots or street corners.