Residents puncture garbage trucks to protest indiscriminate dumping

Namakkal: Irked over indiscriminate dumping and burning of garbage on a private land near Mettukadai here, residents of Kumarapalayam on Monday punctured two municipality garbage vehicles and seized them when they arrived to dispose of the waste.
According to the residents, the municipality collects garbage from all 32 wards and dumps them on the private land near the residential area.They said the garbage was not segregated as biodegradable and non-degradable waste, nor sent to a solid waste management centre within the municipal limits. All garbage is burned together on the land, they said.
“All sorts of garbage, including household waste, medical waste and meat waste, are collected and dumped on the privately owned land near Mettukadai next to Ranganoor,” said K Mohammed Ali, a resident. He said setting fire to the garbage was causing problems for more than 300 families in the area, with some suffering from eye irritation and respiratory issues.
Locals said they decided to take matters into their own hands, as municipal authorities took no action on their repeated complaints. They released the garbage vehicles after the officials assured them that garbage would no longer be dumped in the residential area,