Iinvading of Flies to Houses @ Vellalore
Residents of more than 20 layouts in Vellalore and Kurichi, 10 km south of the city, complained on Monday of a sudden and huge increase in the number of flies entering their area from the Coimbatore Corporation’s garbage yard nearby.Alleging that their complaints were not being listened to by the authorities concerned, some of them came to the District Collector’s office with packets containing dead flies to reveal their plight. They also threatened to revive their protest to demand that the Corporation stop using the yard to dump garbage.
“It is as though the flies have imposed a curfew on us,” said P. Tamizharasi, a resident of Sriram Nagar that is among the worst-affected areas. “We just cannot open any door or window. If we open a door to step out, the flies gain entry and spoil our food,” she complained.
The residents blamed the problem on the garbage yard. With garbage accumulating at the rate of 500 tonnes a day and with no disposal system yet in place fully, damp waste because of rain has begun to attract flies.
“The fly menace has returned. We are not sure whether the spraying of the effective microbe solution on the waste dumps was being done to control the problem,” secretary of the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee K.S. Mohan said.
“We feel that the waste removed from the fish markets at Ukkadam during the cleanliness drive last Friday (June 29) and dumped here has attracted more flies,” Mr. Mohan said, adding that some measure should have been taken to ensure that the rotting waste did not cause problems to the residents.
“We feel that the waste removed from the fish markets at Ukkadam during the cleanliness drive last Friday (June 29) and dumped here has attracted more flies,” Mr. Mohan said, adding that some measure should have been taken to ensure that the rotting waste did not cause problems to the residents.
R. Padmavathi, also of Sriram Nagar, said she was sick for a week. “I have fever, cough, severe headache and an upset stomach. The doctor says my illness has been caused by the flies,” she said. The insurance agent could not go out to work as she was ill and had to spend around Rs.1,000 for treatment over the last few days.
The plight of the children in six schools at Mahalingapuram was terrible. “They cannot open their lunch boxes. Ask the doctors here and they will tell you about the increase in the number of dysentery cases,” Mr. Mohan said. He said that with no effort from any side to control the problem, the committee would insist on the garbage yard being shifted.
