CHENNAI: The GCC has cleared around 200 tonnes of firecracker waste across the city following Deepavali celebrations, with another 450 tonnes targeted for removal in the coming days.

To speed up the cleanup operation, the civic body has deployed an additional 600 sanitation workers and 350 vehicles across various zones, the Greater Chennai Corporation said in a release here on Monday.

The Corporation has distributed 30,000 specialised bags, each with a capacity of 50 kg, to sanitation workers for the separate collection of firecracker waste.

The collected firecracker waste will be taken to a dedicated processing facility in Gummidipoondi for safe disposal using scientific methods. However, rainfall has hampered the cleanup operation, as the wet firecracker residue has stuck to road surfaces, making it difficult for sanitation workers to remove.

The GCC said public response to its earlier appeals to segregate firecracker waste and keep it in separate bags had been lower than anticipated.

It has urged residents to keep firecracker waste separate from regular household garbage and hand it over directly to conservancy workers during collection instead of dumping it on roads or in public spaces.

The Corporation stressed that public cooperation was essential to maintaining a clean and hygienic city.