VELLORE: The Vellore City Municipal Corporation (VCMC) is planning to conduct regular mass cleaning exercises in the coming days to stop the dumping of garbage and improve public hygiene, Mayor Sujatha Anandhakumar told TNIE. "Areas with huge piles of trash will be cleaned every Saturday. We're working out the details," she added.
Earlier, the Corporation carried out deep-cleaning at the Vellore fort for two weeks and then at the Long Bazaar. The Kasba area will be cleaned out next week. Due to the Chithirai Pushpa Pallakku processions, the exercise had been halted this week.
Recently, the Mayor inspected the Nicholson Channel desilting works and visited the busy Mangaimandi fruit market. The traders complained that garbage in the market was not disposed off leading to foul smells and health hazards.
The traders request the government to clear the waste at least four times a week, Manga Mandi Traders Association President TP Mani Mudhaliyar told TNIE. "We're dealing with perishables and since the garbage is not collected, we're dumping it in our shops. Despite repeated calls, the Corporations' workers are not showing up," he added.
Responding to the issue, Sujatha Anandhakumar said, "We are exploring options to form a separate team to collect and process waste at the fruit market regularly and prepare manure from that. The manure will be sold to organic farmers as there is a considerable demand for it."
Also, the Mayor plans to conduct frequent surprise inspections at residential areas to check the garbage collection and disposal. "Zone-wise field inspections will be carried out and I will visit five wards a day to ensure work is being done properly. The attendance of the sanitation officers and conservancy workers will also be checked," she said.
However, she dismissed the idea of setting up garbage bins across the city. People are opposed to placing bins near their homes and there are some practical difficulties with that, she said, adding that a full-fledged door-to-door collection of waste collections will be done.
Vellore city has the name 'Kuppai thotti illa nagaram' (Bin-free city) for solid waste management without public bins. The door-to-door collection was hindered in the recent months due to Smart Cities Mission construction works and the non-availability of local body representatives.