Food waste and garbage strewn on NSC Bose Road in Chennai. File
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Following complaints from the public about damaged and overflowing dustbins across the city, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is drawing up a plan to turn one ward bin-less.
With the civic body having floated tenders to obtain over 1,000 new bins and repair broken ones across the city recently, the vision to make the entire city bin-less — through 100% segregation of waste at source and 100% collection coverage as suggested in GCC’s City Climate Action Plan (CCAP) draft, 2022 — appears far-fetched, a senior official state.
Even as Mayor R. Priya, in her Budget Announcements for the financial year 2024-25, said the GCC would aim towards a bin-less Chennai, no instructions in this regard has been received so far, said senior officials in the Solid Waste Management department. “Only 100% outsourcing may reduce open dumping to get the city closer to being bin-less,” an official said.
According to the GCC, its 15 zones generate nearly 5,000 mixed waste daily that are collected at the two dumpyards in Perungudi (receives 2,300 tonnes to 2,500 tonnes daily) and Kodungaiyur (3,000 tonnes).
‘Open dumping an ongoing issue’
Ravi Kumar, a 52-year-old social activist, claimed open dumping and garbage burning were ongoing issues, particularly in Sowcarpet, Royapuram, and along the Cooum river near Napier Bridge and Wall Tax Road. He said areas like GKM Colony in Kolathur and vacant spots near Villivakkam MRTS often have waste piles. While door-to-door collection exists, unmanaged areas like water bodies and vacant lands remain vulnerable.
“Officials usually respond only when notified, not proactively. The government needs to raise awareness. Without bins, the issue may aggravate,” he stated. Similar issues were sighted near Velachery lake and in Saidapet, close to Adyar river.
Dilli Babu of Tondiarpet claimed the CCTV cameras placed where the GCC had set up boards warning against open dumping did not work and hence, people continued to dump waste in the open. This was making things difficult for pedestrians.
Waste segregation
Residents from areas like Bharathiyar Street, Thiruvalluvar Road in Ward 200, and Adyar Kasturiba Nagar have raised concerns about damaged bins, uncleared garbage, and blocked sewage pipes due to waste accumulation, causing mosquito breeding and increasing stray dog menace.
A conservancy worker of Ward 50, where the solid waste management is done by GCC, claimed that most households segregate waste but those that do not segregate and roadside shops discard them out in the open. “Bhogi and Aayudha Puja festival times are a nightmare. Papers, small plastic bottles, and sanitary napkins are mostly thrown out near water bodies. No amount of awareness works with some people. This was raised with higher officials, but there has been no change,” she said.
An assistant zonal manager with Urbaser Sumeet, one of the private firms partnered with GCC for waste collection, said bulk waste generators — both commercial and residential — are the biggest contributors to open dumping, even though the GCC imposes regular fines on them and has installed CCTV cameras.
The GCC conducted cleaning drives across the city, removing 38 tonnes of waste from 1,363 bus shelters on December 30, 2024. The operation, involving 3,300 workers, cleared 21.85 tonnes of household garbage, 17.02 tonnes of construction debris, 3,954 unauthorised posters, and 120 banners. On January 3, 2025, a similar drive at 203 burial grounds removed 159.16 tonnes of waste, including 93.38 tonnes of general waste and 65.78 tonnes of construction debris, along with 666 overgrown bushes.
Published – January 15, 2025 05:24 pm IST
