UMC launches clean-up drive in residential area in Udhagamandalam

Following reports of open dumping at Rose Mount in Udhagamandalam, the municipality launched a massive clean-up drive in the area and conducted an awareness campaign to sensitise residents about the need for source segregation recently.

Speaking to The Hindu, M. Gandhiraj, Udhagamandalam Municipality Commissioner (UMC), said that Rose Mount was one of the around 30 hotspots identified by the municipality where residents were found to be dumping garbage in open bordering reserve forests. “This is the third programme, under the People’s Movement for a Clean City initiative that is being conducted by the UMC, after Khandal and Ooty Town,” said Mr. Gandhiraj.

He said that people were informed about the need for source segregation, and the impacts that open dumping of garbage was having on local wildlife.

R. Visalatchi, Councillor, Ward 7, , said that elected officials and members of the municipality went door-to-door and enquired with residents as to whether garbage was being collected from their homes by the municipality, to identify any shortcomings in the door-to-door waste collection mechanism. She added that following reports that there was open dumping being carried out, a massive clean-up drive was launched in the surrounding area by the UMC’s sanitary workers.

G. Janardhanan, president of the Ooty Public Awareness Association, who has been vocal about the issue of open dumping in the town, appreciated the quick response by the Nilgiris Collector, S.P.Amrith, and the local municipality. “This clean-up needs to be followed up with inspections to ensure that people do not revert to open dumping in the future,” he added, calling for similar initiatives in other areas in the town where waste was being dumped in the open.