Madurai residents welcome end to privatisation of solid waste management

Madurai: Residents of Madurai have welcomed the state govt’s decision to scrap tenders to continue the privatisation of solid waste management in 12 corporations, including Madurai.For several months, residents have been complaining of poor door-to-door waste collection and improper waste dumping throughout the city, with the blame shifting from the Madurai corporation to the private contractor for waste management. Repeated strikes in the past few months by sanitation workers regarding irregular pay and lack of safety equipment and tools provided also cast a poor light on them.During the last corporation council meeting, held on June 2, the councillors unanimously called for an end to the privatisation of solid waste management, referencing Madurai’s poor performance in the Swacch Survekshan list of cleanest cities.Residents echoed similar sentiments, with activist V P Manikandan saying that with privatisation, there is a lack of direct supervision by the corporation, which adds to the lassitude of the workers. He also added that the private contractor did not make any effort to properly segregate waste during its tenure, or clean waste properly from the roadside and the water channels.D Raghavan, president of the Gomathipuram Residents Welfare Association, also said that for the past few months, door-to-door waste collection has been very poor in their area, and no amount of complaints has fixed the issue.

Shankarlingam, secretary of the Shenbaga Thottam Resident’s Welfare Association, questioned whether the corporation’s waste management practices would be any improvement. “Now there is a more direct chain of command to follow up on issues, but if work is not done properly, then we will be in the same boat,” he said.A senior corporation official said that talks are under way to rehire the sanitation workers working under the private contractor and utilise them to add to the corporation’s own sanitation workforce and waste cleaning efforts. “We have also started an afternoon cleaning drive in many of the main areas in the city to maintain cleanliness and keep the dustbins free,” Dr Abhishek, assistant city health officer, said.