Along with civic workers of Vellore Corporation, residents including students, senior citizens and women were engaged in mass cleaning in Katpadi town on Saturday.
A joint initiative of the civic body and Katpadi 14th Ward Residents Welfare Association, residents from Radhakrishnan Nagar, Variyar Nagar, Durai Nagar, A.C. Mottur, Osipattammal Nagar, Sairam Nagar, Venmani Nagar, Red Cross and Vivekananda Road that came under 14th ward of the civic body were involved in the exercise.
The drive was started by the Zone-1 chairperson of the Corporation, R. Pushpalatha and G. Samundeeswari, ward councillor. “Open dumping of waste has become a common problem in our ward. So, we decided to rope like-minded residents and the civic body to sensitise residents, especially youth to prevent the menace. People from other areas also dump their waste in our area during the night,” said K. Renganathan, president, Katpadi 14th Ward Residents Welfare Association.
Despite thickly populated residential areas with around 5,000 residents, the ward has become a spot for open dumping of garbage. Most of the open plots in the ward have turned into a small dump yard, mainly dumped by people from other areas during the night. Currently, Vellore Corporation does not have garbage bins in all its 60 wards to encourage source segregation by households. Wastes are collected door-to-door every day.
The drive was organised to encourage residents to be more vigil on open garbage dumping in the ward. Areas like Radhakrishnan Nagar, Variyar Nagar, Durai Nagar, A.C. Mottur, Sairam Nagar, Venmani Nagar and Red Cross were cleaned. Each area, on an average, has at least 10-20 streets. Most of the collected wastes in the drive are plastic bags and PET bottles.
Residents said that prevention of open garbage dumping also helps to prevent stray dogs and cattle menace in the ward, which is surrounded by farming villages where dairy farmers let loose their cattle for open grazing. Most of the cattle loiter on the streets in the ward even during the night posing a risk to motorists Open dumping of garbage in open plots also becomes an ideal spot for mosquito breeding, residents said.
