Clearing of Deepavali garbage to be completed today, says Coimbatore Corporation

COIMBATORE The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) plans to clear the garbage generated dur

The Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) plans to clear the garbage generated during the festival days and piled up on the roadsides by Thursday.

As Coimbatore returns to normalcy after Deepavali, many commercial spots, including Oppanakara Street and Flower Street and residential areas like Selvapuram, Kovaipudur, Avarampalayam, etc., are still choked with uncleared waste as of Wednesday evening.

Corporation Commissioner M. Prathap said there are roughly 5,500 sanitary workers — 2,100 permanent and over 3,400 on contract. "Of this, nearly 80% of the permanent workers marked attendance and 49.9% of contract workers attended work on Wednesday," he said.

A senior official of the CCMC Central Zone Wards 80 and 83 (Oppanakara street area) said an online meeting was held with sanitary workers on Wednesday regarding this.

"Over 32,400 voters reside in these wards and over one lakh floating population visit 3,000 shops per day. We collect around 20 tonnes of waste a day on normal days and during festive season, about five tonnes more may be reported. Work began on Wednesday afternoon at Vysial Street, Big Bazaar Street, Raja Street and Salim Street. Clearance work was postponed as there was a delay in the arrival of vehicles as well as workers as celebrations continued and there was rain. There are 130 permanent workers and 70-80 temporary workers for these wards. Owing to the strike, only the permanent workers will be engaged from around 9 p.m. Usually, two vehicles are used for collection, but we have ordered three more to hasten the job," the official added.

Councillors of Ward 76 P. Rajkumar and Ward 77 S. Rajalakshmi said they were managing garbage disposal with 12-15 workers using one vehicle each to collect over three tonnes of waste in Telungupalayam and Selvapuram South respectively.

Mr. Prathap told The Hindu, "The permanent labourers are working double shifts and being paid extra per hour. We are engaging some of them for overtime in the evening and night to expedite work. By Thursday, the garbage accumulation issue will be solved."