Burning Garbage Dump Distrubed Residents
The burning garbage dump on the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s campus, near R.K. Naidu Layout at Venkitapuram, in Coimbatore. Residents of R.K. Naidu Layout at Venkitapuram in the city were a harried lot on Tuesday. A garbage dump in the corner of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s campus had been burning since Monday evening and the smoke that entered the colony inconvenienced the residents.Ward 61 councillor K. Purushothaman and about 20 residents met Registrar of the university P. Santhanakrishnan to discuss the problem. The Registrar assured the residents that the dump would be re-located to end the problem they faced. The councillor said someone set fire to the dump on Monday evening and flames rose high, scaring people in the houses close by.
A couple of residents pointed at flames even around noon on Tuesday. This was the condition even after four to five fire tenders tried to put out the blaze on Monday night, members of the R.K. Naidu Layout Welfare Association said. The residents said representations were made to the university in June and July last year, requesting that the dump be shifted. They did not make any thereafter because the university promised to shift the dump. They were forced to meet the authorities again on Tuesday because of the blaze that broke out on Monday.
Mr. Santhanakrishnan told that the spot where the garbage lay was not a mere dump yard. “We keep only crop waste there for the purpose of converting it into manure that we use on our farms.” Denying that there were earlier episodes of fire, the Registrar said: “We do not know who set fire to the dump on Monday. But, we will now look to shift it so that the people are not affected.”
