Frequent garbage fires trigger alarm among Tirupur residents

COIMBATORE: With frequent fires at garbage piles fuelled by a lack of proper waste management mounting in Tirupur, residents have expressed outrage that sluggish garbage collection has spelt trouble.

Fire outbreaks were also reported at a garbage dump on Velampalayam-Kavilipalayam Road and on Vanjipalayam to Kavilipalayam Road. Besides garbage, the practice of dumping textile waste by garment manufacturing units along road sides is also a growing menace.

The issue of garbage disposal became more profound after residents opposed the dumping of garbage in abandoned quarries. People of several villages objected to dumping garbage in quarries as it causes pollution of the soil, groundwater table, and air.

Following a series of protests, the corporation stopped dumping garbage in quarries, leaving it without an alternative place to dump garbage. Erratic garbage collection has become a serious issue since then.