CHENNAI: Despite the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) order following an article by Express, Chitlapakkam town panchayat is still lagging behind in regular garbage collection, source segregation, and shifting of the solid waste management resource recovery park.
Citing Express’s article dated June 25, 2021, on non-compliance of NGT order to follow Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the court has now once again recalled the case. As per the orders of the Tribunal, the town panchayat will have to shift the solid waste management resource recovery park by June 30 and set up a resource recovery centre. But, so far, no steps have been taken on this regard.
The existing resource recovery park is on the Chitlapakkam lake bed and often plastic and other garbage end up there. Also, the SWM Rules, 2016, have not been followed. District collector, Chengalpattu, Chitlapakkam town panchayat, and Tamil Nadu Pollution control Board (TNPCB) are directed to inspect the area in question and submit a factual as well as an action taken report, gathered by the respective regulators in complying with the directions issued.
The officials have been directed to file their independent reports before July 28. “The resource recovery park is on the Chitlapakkam lake bed. Often plastics and other garbage material find their way from recovery centre into the lake.
After numerous appeals, NGT ordered that the park must be shifted. However, no action has been taken and business goes on as usual,” said Dayanand Krishnan, a resident who is regularly following up on the case. He added that the premises has been cleaned following the NGT order, but there is no information on shifting the recovery park yet.
The issue was that, ever since the pandemic, civic issues have taken a back seat. While source segregation is not happening at all, waste is also not being collected regularly. Residents say trash is only being collected once or twice in a week, due to which, waste is piling up on the roads. About a year ago, five mini vans were rolled out to collect trash from about 7,000 houses and the rest were being collected by manually-operated tricycles.
There was a tender anomaly, the conservancy workers weren’t being paid and the vehicles suddenly stopped coming. Though this issue has been rectified to an extent, garbage collection remained irregular ever since.