Madurai is 'suffocating' as trash piles up: Why are officials staying silent while the city suffers?

The non-clearance of garbage from dwellings and streets for the fifth consecutive day due to the strike by conservancy workers resulted in an unpleasant smell in the air across the 100 Wards of Madurai Corporation. In many pockets, especially in thickly populated areas, it was unbearable as people had strewn the waste on the narrow roads.

The last time the garbage was lifted from the five zones was on Friday (October 2) or Saturday (October 3) in the city, according to the residents with whom The Hindu contacted on Wednesday (October 7).

On Tuesday (October 6), some 500 workers were deployed to lift the waste from select streets, especially around the business areas. The rest of the wards/streets were left in the lurch.

When the government has been appealing to keep the environment clean, such piled-up garbage, which remained open on the roads, not only posed an unhygienic atmosphere, but also led to a rise in dengue-like fever and other communicable diseases.

The stray cattle and dogs were having a heyday on many streets, especially in extension areas. Residents in Avaniapuram said that there were even pigs being reared in the streets. Similar views were echoed from AIBEA Colony in Vilangudi.

The conservancy workers have not been attending work, demanding that the civic body implement their demands, which include the removal of the private agency outsourced to clear the garbage from the city wards.

The CITU district secretary, Balasubramanian, said that the Corporation officials were hand in glove with the private agency, which has been anti-labour. "When we have been demanding the termination of the agency's contract, the officials seemed to be nonchalant...." he claimed.

For a population of approximately two million in Madurai city, the conservancy workers' strength stood at a meagre 4,000. "We have been seeking the civic body to double the number to 8,000, but it has fallen on deaf ears", he charged.

A senior official from the Corporation said that the private agency's contract ends on November 15. Directorate of Municipal Administration has also been briefed about the demands raised by the workers. Going on strike is not a solution. Whenever they return to work, they have to clear the mounting waste. The people are suffering, he added.

Activist and advocate Anandraj said that there was no point in blaming the then DMK government, as the people had voted them out and brought in the new government to rule. The officials and the elected representatives should consider the plight of the residents and take action on a war footing.

A senior DMK councillor, Jayaraman, said that the city stinks and that it exposes the lack of accountability of the civic body. AIADMK councillor Solai M. Raja said that only on September 17 did the city witness the kumbabhishekam, and in less than a month, the city's streets were filled with garbage.

Many senior officials preferred not to answer telephone calls, and a few among them in the Health department of the Corporation had even switched off their handphones. The Hindu also attempted to get the official version, but in vain on Wednesday.

A few months ago, Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan's observation on the poor ranking of the city sparked a big controversy, and many of the political parties objected to it. But it seems now that the MP was correct, a political activist said.