Festivals leave behind a Herculean cleaning task

Even as conservancy workers of Tiruchi Corporation spearhead the task of collecting garbage, the huge generation of festival waste on account of Ayudha Puja and Saraswathi Puja has made the task difficult for them.

Garbage has piled up in many places including Gandhi Market, a wholesale and retail vegetable market in the city, Singarathope, N.S.B. Road, Beema Nagar and Woraiyur. The issue is not restricted to one or two places. It has been noticed on main streets where commercial establishments are located.

Since Ayudha Puja day is considered by the traders and merchants to be a thanksgiving day for the fortune that was bestowed on them during the last one year, various commercial establishments had made it a point to clean their premises. In the process, all waste was dumped on street corners with most of the garbage bins spilling over with left over puja items and plantain leaves.

Moreover, hawkers, who sold plantain leaves, flowers and fruits in different parts of the city to cash on the huge demand, also abandoned the leftovers on streets. Similarly, pumpkins used to ward off ‘evil eye’ were also littered on the roads. With a long weekend ahead, the garbage woes have only continued.

“The part-time sellers have simply abandoned plantain on the streets here and there. Two days have gone since Ayudha Puja is over. However, the garbage has not been cleared,” said a hawker on Heber Road at Beema Nagar.

Though the conservancy workers were on the streets to clear garbage, it is said that they could not complete the task in some places due to huge heaps of garbage on streets.

In the normal circumstances, the city generates about 450 tonnes of garbage. However, Ayudha Puja day alone was said to have generated more than 1,000 tonnes of garbage, making the task difficult for conservancy workers.

“When residents are busy in celebrating festivals we are on streets to collect garbage. We have not been given holidays. We collect garbage without sufficient break. However, excessive generation of waste is posing problem to us,” says a conservancy worker at Gandhi market.

A senior official said that field reports suggested that garbage generated on Ayudha Puja day had been cleared. There might be issues here and there. Workers had been asked to step up special cleaning operation.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Tiruchirapalli/festivals-leave-behind-a-herculean-cleaning-task/article19783840.ece