2 weeks Ago
Chennai: Frustrated by persistent unauthorised garbage dumping , Tambaram Corporation has begun installing surveillance cameras in more than 300 identified hotspots, including railway stations, foot-over-bridges, bus stops, flyovers, and parks. Areas such as Bharathamatha Street, Chitlapakkam Lake, Poondi Bazaar, and Rajendra Prasad Road face significant illegal dumping despite the suburb's "binless" goal, officials said. In market areas like the Tambaram market, vendors often discard vegetable waste outside their shops.
"Conservancy workers clean the market, but garbage keeps piling up in corners. We regularly sensitise vendors," said East Tambaram councillor Jothikumar C. The binless initiative , introduced in 2022, was aimed at encouraging household waste segregation and moving toward a zero-waste region.
Residents say that, despite privatising solid waste management and improving garbage collection in some areas, dumping still occurs late at night. "We regularly send photos of residents and conservancy workers dumping garbage bags to the corporation's helpline. But violators are gone by the time officials arrive," said Easwar Kannan, a resident from West Tambaram.
In September, Tambaram Corporation received around 300 complaints related to the disposal of garbage, debris, construction waste, and waste burning through its social media helpline. "The cameras will help us identify violators who dump waste at odd hours," said senior health officer Arul Anand. He joined the director of municipal administration S Sivarasu this week to visit some of the hotspots.
Officials urged residents to maintain cleanliness around their homes. The CCTV surveillance system will provide alerts to the control room when dumping occurs. "Once the system alerts us, we can take immediate action and impose fines on offenders," said a senior engineer.
The cameras are being installed on a pilot basis, with plans to expand the initiative if it proves successful, he added..
