Deepavali festivities generate 700 tonnes of waste in Tiruchi

Deepavali festivities have left mounds of trash on the streets of Tiruchi city.

The city generates about 450 tonnes of solid waste on a normal day. It went up to about 700 tonnes on Tuesday, mainly due to the burnt out crackers, plastics used for wrapping crackers, boxes, food waste and domestic waste, according to sources.

Though all 65 wards in the city contributed to additional pressure on conservancy workers, commercial streets such as N.S.B. Road, Big Bazaar Street, Super Bazaar, Singarathope, West Boulevard Road, Gandhi Market, Palakarai, Nandhi Koil Street and Chinna Kadai Street, where a large number of roadside and seasonal vendors established temporary shops during the Deepavali season, witnessed abnormal generation of waste.

Similarly, conservancy workers faced heaps of waste in Thillai Nagar, Raja Colony, Thennur, Woraiyur, Srirangam, Thiruvanaikoil, Varaganeri, East Boulevard Road, Cantonment, K.K. Nagar, Karumandapam and Bheema Nagar.. Though the State government declared holiday on Tuesday, as a special case, Tiruchi Corporation engaged as many workers as possible to clear the garbage.

The heavy rain that lashed many parts of the city posed difficulties in collection of garbage. In spite of the tough working conditions, the workers carried out the cleaning drive.

Corporation Commissioner L. Madhubalan told The Hindu that the city generated about 700 tonnes of garbage.

He said he received inputs from field officers that the entire quantum of festive waste had been cleared. In addition to the door-to-door garbage collectors, numbering about 1,000, the workers, who would generally be engaged in drainage cleaning and sweeping, were also engaged in the special drive. Nearly 85% of the workers reported for duty on Tuesday.