Two women farmers in Punalkadu, a small tribal hamlet along the Girivalam path on the outskirts of Tiruvannamalai town, jumped into a farm well in the village on Monday, opposing the construction of a compound wall around the upcoming integrated compost yard in the village.
Police said the residents had been opposing the project in the village for over two months after Collector B. Murugesh gave the nod for the construction of a new dump yard in the village. However, despite several rounds of talks between residents and revenue officials, the issue remained unresolved.
A fortnight ago, agitating residents also met E.V. Velu, State Minister for Public works, Highways and Minor Ports, and urged him to drop the project. Subsequently, along with residents, the district administration were asked to locate an alternative site for the new dump yard. “Most of the residents in the village (Punalkadu) are farmers and depend on borewells and nearby lakes for irrigation. The new landfill site will ruin our livelihoods,” said K. Ponnuammal, a resident.
It was around 11.30 a.m. on Monday when a large number of residents, mostly women, gathered in front of the new dump yard, where work on the construction of the compound wall had begun. Along with those from the neighbouring hamlets, they objected to the work.
During the heated arguments between residents and Block Development Officer (BDO), Tiruvannamalai taluk, S. Arunachalam, S. Kumarai, 40, and her neighbour V. Nirmala, 37, jumped into a nearby farm well.
The police were alerted, and a team, led by K. Gunasekaran, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Tiruvannamalai), rushed to the spot and rescued them.
Assistant Director (AD) of Town Panchayats (Tiruvannamalai) K. Saranya Devi told The Hindu that the new compost yard is spread over 2.25 acres at the foot of a hillock near the reserve forest (RF) along the 14-km Girivalam path. Garbage from five village panchayats – Adaiyur, Adiannamalai, Anaipirandan, Athiyandel and Vengikkal – on the path would be disposed of at the site. Every day, over 2,000 kg of garbage on average is generated at these villages, mainly due to pilgrims and foreign tourists.
Earlier, the garbage from these villages were dumped at the dump yard in the Tiruvannamalai municipality, which itself generates around 65 tonnes of garbage daily. However, due to the space crunch and pollution, the municipality refused to allow these panchayats to dump their waste in its yard.
As a result, Mr. Murugesh approved the establishment of the new dump yard near the hillock. “The compound wall will be 10 feet high. Steps will be taken to prevent pollution in its vicinity. The entire yard will be ready in six months,” Ms. Devi said.
