After a street dog died in an accident on the Cholambedu main road in Thirumullaivoyal during the early hours of Wednesday, December 7, its remains were dumped in what Chennai’s Avadi Municipal Corporation refers to as a ‘garbage hotspot.’ This hotspot is located 20 m from the main road, in a neighbouring street. Faisal, the owner of a small utility store located next to where the dog’s remains were dumped, confirms this incident and adds that he had made calls to the corporation office, requesting them to clean the dump yard.

While he is not sure who carried the dog’s remains to the open dumping ground next to his store, he says, “There used to be a dustbin in front of the plot next to my shop, but it was removed last year. However, the people in this area continue to dispose of waste here.”

Bins were systematically phased out from Avadi in 2021 as part of the corporation’s goal of becoming a bin-less municipality. However, many garbage hotspots, such as the one described by Faisal, are mushrooming across residential areas as the corporation inches closer to attaining the goal. The municipality’s sanitary officer Albert Arul Raj explains, “Hotspots are places where people continuously dump waste despite removing the dustbins that were previously stationed there.” Two other hotspots were spotted by TNM on the same road where Faisal’s store is located. There is no fine or penalty in place for those who are littering in these hotspots.

To further help facilitate the bin-less initiative, which was primarily implemented to maintain garbage-free streets, the corporation strengthened its sanitary workforce. Albert reports that at present, 845 outsourced sanitary workers collect garbage on a door-to-door basis and from the roadsides alongside 145 regular workers. “They work from 6 am to 1:30 pm throughout the week and collect 160-180 tonnes of waste every day,” he says.

Although the corporation has removed all the dustbins from residential areas, they have retained a few dustbins on the main roads and alongside railway stations or bus stands, as they are public places where commercial waste is generated.

The corporation retained dustbins in places where commercial waste is generated

Citing this retention, sanitary workers in Senthil Nagar have identified a rather distinct problem. Chettichi (48), a sanitary worker who collects waste from every house in a light commercial vehicle, points out, “We find waste dumped in open places and we clean it every morning. But, the few dustbins present, especially the ones near the Thirumullaivoyal railway station, remain half-full or even empty on most mornings. We do not understand why.”

Divya (39) (name changed), a shopkeeper in the vicinity, admits to have not known about the retained dustbins. She concludes, “It is possible that people who reside in and around this street are dumping waste in the open here (points at a hotspot across from her shop) because they aren’t aware that a few dustbins have been retained near the railway ground that is located only four streets away. The government should have informed us.”

While addressing this issue, Albert blames the people for not cooperating. He says that the corporation is currently using close to 170 vehicles to collect waste and that these vehicles follow a fixed route chart. “Many people are complaining that they leave home for their workplaces by 8 am and that these vehicles come only around 9 am to their house. We can't cater to every individual’s needs. We are making them aware, but by giving such reasons, they are keeping these hotspots alive,” he adds. Further, he criticises people’s tendency to dispose of waste as soon as it begins to accumulate at home.

Meanwhile, residents complain that the vehicles do not come regularly or that they cannot hear the vehicle’s call on some mornings. However, both Albert and the sanitary workers maintain that the vehicles visit the localities every day except on rare occasions when there is a vehicle breakdown. They also vouch that they play loud music or blow a whistle continuously to let people know that the vehicle is approaching the streets.