Food and vegetable wastes are seen dumped inside Broadway bus terminus in Chennai
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Day by day, the Broadway bus terminus in Chennai is turning into a dump yard with vegetable and food wastes strewn all over the terminus causing severe inconvenience to thousands of passengers visiting it.

Being the oldest nerve centre of bus transport system in the city, the terminus, located in the commercial hub of Parry’s corner is in poor civic condition as huge amounts of vegetable wastes are thrown by hundreds of vendors who have encroached the carriageway and the entrance to the bus terminus. 

Adding to the woes of the commuters, food wastes are dumped by numerous food stalls present inside the bus terminus and passengers too dump food waste all over the premises despite dust bins being placed in a few corners. 

While the conservancy staff remove the garbage daily during a specific time, waste could still be seen strewn all around the place creating health hazards to commuters. During the monsoon, the situation in the bus terminus is even worse as puddles of rainwater mixed with sewage overflows from the public toilet and cause a nauseating smell. 

The officials of the Metropolitan Transport corporation (MTC) are not able to take any steps to prevent the vendors from entering and occupying the bus terminus as they point out the space belongs to the Chennai Corporation. 

T. Shanmugam, 

Choolai 

Corporation responds 

Responding to the complaint, a senior official of the Greater Chennai Corporation said steps would be taken to improve the condition by organising conservancy staff to remove the wastes twice daily instead of once, as being done at present. 

Unauthorised letting of sewage in Iyyappanthangal 

There are three huge multistorey buildings located in Iyyappanthangal village panchayat which are letting out the waste or grey water directly into the storm water drain network without properly recycling the wastewater, due to the absence of any Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) inside their premises. A complaint in the regard was also registered with the Environmental Engineer of the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, However, the official, without making any enquiry, has informed that no waste or grey water was being let out into the open drain network. He states that wastewater was being recycled using a sewage treatment plant and the water was being used for gardening purposes inside the apartment premises.

R. Senthil Kumar,

Iyyappanthangal

(Readers can write to this column at readersmailchennai @thehindu.co.in)