CHENNAI: Patrons in Tirumangalam are upset over a garbage bin right outside the Amma Unavagam entrance.
They pointed out that private restaurants or eateries do not have large garbage bins sitting right outside their front doors.
The Amma Unavagam in Anna Nagar West, near Tirumangalam Metro parking, serves hundreds of people every day. However, visitors to the canteen are greeted by a garbage bin just a few feet from the entrance, with a foul odour lingering throughout the premises.
The daily wage labourers, senior citizens and other residents feel they deserve the same standards of cleanliness expected at any other private dining establishment
“In the morning, the bins are filled with garbage. It's quite unsettling for us to eat inside with the smell,” said L Pradeep. While garbage bins are an essential part of waste management and are usually placed in road corners, eatery users feel that locating one directly outside a food establishment undermines the basic sanitation standards expected in places where meals are served.
"It is difficult to imagine a garbage bin being placed right at the entrance of a private restaurant. Then why should people eating at a government-run canteen have to walk past piles of garbage every day?" asked Kumaran, a security guard who depends on the eatery.
The canteen caters largely to daily wage labourers, senior citizens and other residents who depend on affordable meals.
They feel they deserve the same standards of cleanliness expected at any other dining establishment, irrespective of whether the facility is publicly or privately operated. "The bin should be shifted to another location," Kumaran added, urging the Greater Chennai Corporation to identify an alternative location.