CHENNAI: For the second time in less than a month, biomedical waste was found dumped in Chennai’s suburbs. This time, used surgical gloves were found half-burnt along the Outer Ring Road at Vandalur. Around two weeks back, heaps of expired medicines were found burnt near Poonamallee.
Under the Walajabad flyover, along the service road, close to ten sacks of used gloves were spotted by locals in the area. When Express visited the spot on Tuesday, the burnt remains of these gloves were found. Also, the gloves were turned inside out, indicating that they were not new.
The spot where the biomedical waste was found looked like a mini dump yard filled with decomposing domestic garbage. This stretch of land was originally classified as ‘Thangal’ or farmland, said residents.
Due to civic apathy, this has been turned into a regular dumping spot. Residents are apprehensive that if this space is not cleared soon by the Urapakkam/Vandalur Panchayat officials, it will turn into a regular dumping spot. Moreover, the area is close to water bodies like the Otteri Lake, Manivakkam Lake and Vandalur Lake, which may be affected by the leachate from the garbage.
Pughalvendhan V, a civic activist who has campaigned against many such instances of open dumping of biomedical waste, said he was going to take up this issue strongly with the pollution control board. “Based on the amount of gloves dumped, small-scale labs or clinics in the vicinity might be the culprits behind this. Residents living in apartments nearby said that they regularly see trucks dumping garbage here too,” said Pughal, a resident of Kundrathur.
He also mentioned that he has seen trucks belonging to local panchayats dumping waste at the area. When
Express visited the spot, a temporary path laid with rubble was found with lorry tire tracks. Main perpetrators behind this couldn’t be traced, though.
“When I register a complaint with the pollution control board, they ask me to first take up the issue with the local body. But it is likely that even the local body is involved in dumping waste here. In that case, officials from other departments have to intervene,” said Pughal.
An official from Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board’s biomedical waste monitoring team said that the district officer will be immediately notified about the issue. Member secretary of TNPCB, D Sekar, said that the matter will be taken up and that biomedical waste will be removed soon from the spot.
As this spot is located along a highway bereft of any houses or shops nearby, officials said it is difficult to catch the culprits.“There are no CCTV cameras in locations like these. Usually, such activities happen in the night and are difficult to track. But, we will do this soon,” said a senior official from TNPCB.
Long-term impact
Residents worry that if this space is not cleared soon by Urapakkam/Vandalur Panchyat officials, it will turn into a regular dumping spot