Sea washing garbage ashore reveals faulty waste disposal system

The picture of discarded footwear, suitcases and other items on Palavakkam beach is a stark reminder of the prevailing problem in the city. We are generating a load of garbage, our waste disposal mechanisms are not fool-proof and most people seem to think that garbage is someone  else’s problem. A combination of such factors is resulting in clogging our civic system. Typically, what happens during heavy rains is that the force of water flushes out everything from storm water drains and carries it all out to sea. 

The sea would beach all that garbage back on the shore. A similar thing happened in late November and early December 2015 as well, during the deluge. 

Ironically, this kind of phenomenon occurs because the Corporation or private agencies have cleared the storm water drains. However, dumping of garbage by unknown sources would result in the garbage getting washed into the storm water drains. 

When the garbage gets swept to shallow systems such as mudflats, the garbage will have a negative impact on the birds that live there or visit the mudflats. In the long run, the ecological disturbance would be huge. In order to prevent such an eventuality, ideally, people should not throw garbage or dump them everywhere. Each individual has to make an effort to manage the garbage he/she generates in a better manner.