Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam road dump yard closed for good

The dump yard was a nightmare for the locals since antisocial elements used to set it on fire often.

The Pallavaram municipality used to collect 100 tonnes of garbage daily and dump the same in the land beside Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam radial road before shifting it to Vengadamangalam dump yard every week. A few months ago, the dump yard in Vengadamangalam was closed following residents’ protest and filing of a court petition.

With the garbage not cleared for months, residents in the locality were at their wit’s end. Deadly insects swarmed their houses and they gasped for fresh air as the foul smell was unbearable. Often the anti-social elements would set the dump yard on fire after which the traffic on Radial Road would come to a standstill and residents start complaining of eye irritation and breathing difficulties. They said the dump yard would catch fire at least once a month and it would take few days for the smoke to settle down completely.

After many requests from the public, Chengalpattu district collector A John Louis visited the dump yard along with the municipal officials and ordered to shift it to Aapur in Chengalpattu. He asked the officials to take the garbage directly to Aapur every day.

Pallavaram municipal health officer Govindaraj said the dump yard near the Radial road would function as the collection point but the garbage would not be dumped there. “Every day it will be cleared c and taken to the new dump yard. The residents should not worry about the dump yard hereafter,” said Govindaraj.