Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Breeze here is no more gentle but smelly

Subha J Rao

Chettipalayam Road stinks of chicken waste

COIMBATORE: Regular walkers on Chettipalayam Road dread heading out on Monday mornings. Reason: putrefying chicken waste left over after Sunday's feasting. It continues to smell for the next couple of days. Till then, it is feast time for a pack of street dogs and swarms of flies.

Until some years ago, this was a scenic stretch. A gentle breeze rejuvenated morning walkers as they went about their routine and their eyes took in the sight of the majestic Western Ghats and an azure sky. Not any more.

Today, Chettipalayam Road is a shadow of its former self. Garbage that has fallen from uncovered lorries litters the road, and vacant plots have become organised dumping grounds. Everything from rubber scrap to chicken waste (the leftover feathers, skin and intestines) to overflowing packets of eggshells to carcasses is tossed here. It is a tempting spread for the street dogs near the dumps and they snarl at passersby. The personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force battalion in Vellalore, who run 12 km a day, have to cross this stretch. One of them says he cannot escape this smell. He holds his breath till he crosses the dump yard (a two-minute running distance). Residents, who have seen the transformation of the road, are distressed at the state of affairs.

K.S. Mohan, secretary of the Kurichi-Vellalore Pollution Prevention Action Committee, says no one knows when the dumping takes place. Officials should monitor this stretch to end the dumping.

Kurichi panchayat president N. Prabakaran says all chicken shops on the road have been asked not to dump the waste on the road. "They claim they are innocent and that someone else dumps it here at night," he says.

Chicken stall owners say people running fish farms buy the waste they generate. Prabakaran admits it is difficult to keep watch after 10 p.m. and apprehend the culprits. Such dumping can also lead to health problems. Doctors say that in the long run, dumping of such wastes can lead to a rash of zoonotic (animal to humans) diseases.

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