Chennai: It has been four days since the southern bench of the National Green Tribunal directed Pammal municipality to clear 15 tonnes of garbage disposed by the latter on a private property.
Residents, who welcomed the order, thinking that the five-year-old issue was put to rest, are now aggravated over the municipality’s gross insensitivity of burning the waste and contributing to the pollution in the neighbourhood, which is just few yards from Adyar river.
Mahalakshmi Nagar in Pammal resembles less of a residential hub and more of a dump yard as the municipality had been dumping an approximate 25 trucks of garbage here, deteriorating the lifestyle of the locals.
Incessant complaints to the civic body were ignored, as the representatives even warned the citizens to sell off their properties. It is also an irony that the officials turn down the complaints by stating, “This is nothing. Just ignore it.”
The indifference has prompted the residents to take legal steps at the southern bench of National Green Tribunal, which on September 22 gave a direction, in support of residents.
Dumping of waste was not completely stopped even on Monday - as residents spotted some trucks releasing municipal solid waste here. A.P. Jagadish, secretary of the Mahalakshmi Nagar, Ranganathapuram, Vishweshwapuram Residents Association, said the continuous burning of waste is forcing the residents to shut their doors and windows.
“We are suffocated literally as the civic body starts burning it from 2pm every day. Burning was experienced even before, and it is the reason why I did not complete constructing my house in my property located at survey number 147,” said Jagadish. There are many residents like Jagadish who suffered in silence, as they could neither sell their property nor stay in peace.
