Chennai
The residents also added that the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) has failed to take any permanent steps to stop the issue despite their repeated complaints. They found biomedical waste like syringe, tubes containing blood samples and bandages when they tried to clean the garbage accumulated in the canal.
“We don’t know how these medical wastes reach here. Such wastes would also affect the sanitary workers who clean the canal. Six years ago, Kundrathur used to be full of agricultural lands. Now, all such lands have become part of a residential project. Now, the sewage from the residential area is also let into the canal,” said V Pughalvendan, a resident.
“We suspect that clinics in the locality might have dumped the waste in the waterbody instead of giving it to the contractors, who collect waste from hospitals,” he added.
Earlier, the public had filed a complaint that the biomedical wastes were being burnt in the locality during night hours. Though the burning of waste stopped after immediate action by officials, it is now being dumped in the canal.
“We have filed a complaint with TNPCB officials to take action against people dumping the waste. However, there is no response from them. During rain, gloves, injections and other wastes float in the water. Due to this, we are scared to walk on the road. We also see animals eating those waste, which is harmful for them,” said Vishnu Kumar, another a resident of Kundrathur.
When contacted, K Gopalakrishnan, Joint Chief Environmental Engineer of TNPCB said, “We have not received any complaints from the residents. If anything is done illegally, we would take steps immediately.”
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