Chennai: Overflowing dumpsters continue to be a common sight in the three Greater Chennai Corporation-controlled zones —Tondiarpet, Anna Nagar and Ambattur. In these areas, which generate up to 1,000 tonnes of waste a day, GCC has been handling solid waste management by deploying NULM staff directly under its payroll. The dumpsters on Cooum River Road at Nolambur, Padikuppam and parts of Elaya Street in Tondiarpet remain garbage-laden as workers are not turning up on time to move the waste to transfer stations.On Cooum River Road in Nolambur, 10 bins are stacked next to each other with cows and buffaloes rummaging through garbage, strewn across the two-lane road connecting the neighbourhood with Golden George Nagar. Currently, GCC does not have a waste transfer station for segregation, and it rots for an entire day before it is shifted to the Kodungaiyur dumpyard.Ward 93 councillor Uma Santhanam said she has requested a separate piece of land to build a transfer station, but civic officials say there’s no land for it. “If there is no land, we have to work on a bin-less option. But people also do not segregate waste. So, GCC has to do it for them. Only if people segregate waste can we make the city bin-less,” she said, adding that they will try to clear the waste on the stretch as soon as possible.The case was no different in Padi Kuppam, behind Rohini Theatre, where mattresses and furniture are dumped. In Tondiarpet, near Elaya Street, it takes a day for the waste to be removed. Local officials say NULM workers don’t turn up on time and that they were recently involved in protests against the new biometric system.“We have to streamline them,” an official in ward 48 said. R Ramesh, a civic activist from Old Washermenmpet, said waste collection delay persists. “Many residents keep waste bags outside their house, but the workers don’t come at 7am. Dogs pulling out these bags, leaving the entire street filthy,” he added.Even at places where workers turn up, the vehicles don’t have segregation bins, and sometimes waste is directly loaded into them. GCC superintending engineer for solid waste management, P Banukumar, said 12 zones in the city are already privatised, and there are hardly any complaints on irregular collection or overflowing dumpsters. “In these three zones, we are discussing how to go ahead with whether they should be privatised or not. For now, we will ask the zonal officers to clear up the bins,” he said.
