TIRUPPUR: Tiruppur South MLA K Selvaraj staged a sit-in protest against the DMK-led city corporation over garbage dumping, following complaints from people in his constituency.
Selvaraj, also the DMK district secretary, was travelling by car when protesting locals complained to him about garbage dumping in Muthaiyan Kovil Nagar in Ward 55. Upon inspecting the area, Selvaraj reprimanded the officials and sat on a chair on the roadside and demanded the removal of the garbage.
Officials led by Tiruppur City Municipal Corporation’s Deputy Commissioner R Maheshwari held negotiations and took steps to remove the garbage.
It may be noted that around 573 tonnes of garbage is collected on a daily basis from 60 wards. Until recently, a major portion of this garbage was being dumped at abandoned stone quarries in Mudalipalayam and Nallur.
However, after the Madras High Court imposed a ban on dumping of garbage at such quarries, the corporation was left struggling with solid waste management. As a result, the corporation began temporarily storing waste at various locations. It is alleged that the waste dumped at Muthaiyan Kovil was also a part of this temporary arrangement.
Selvaraj told TNIE, "Since the public made a request, I insisted on removing the garbage. There are only about 30 houses in that area. But a huge quantity of garbage was stored there and had not been removed for many days. Therefore, I took this step and left the area only after the garbage was completely removed. I prioritised people’s issues rather than the party's interests.”
Later addressing media persons, Selvaraj said, "I have the responsibility to solve the issues of the people in my constituency. I am not fighting against the mayor and the administration. I am not doing politics against anyone."
Tiruppur Mayor N Dinesh Kumar told TNIE, “We are fully following the court’s guidelines when it comes to solid waste management. In Tiruppur, about 140 tonnes of biodegradable waste are converted into fertiliser through 28 micro-composting centres (MCC).
Approximately 10 tonnes of waste are converted into biogas through a bio-gas plant. Furthermore, approximately 30 tonnes of dry waste are recycled at six dry waste recycling centres and the segregated dry waste is stored in Iduvai."
"We are continuously improving solid waste management tasks in the corporation. The number of temporary storage sites has been reduced to 13. Garbage was removed four days ago even at the location specified by the MLA. It was not stored there for many days," he said, adding, “Tiruppur will soon become a model city in solid waste management. We are taking efforts in this regard."
The mayor did not reply to the TNIE's query on whether local politics was the reason for the MLA's protest.