CHENNAI: While the residents of Ashtalakshmi Nagar have been forced to put up with lack of proper civic amenities, the empty plots in the area, which are being converted into garbage dumping yards, is exposing them to health hazards. Almost every street in the vicinity has an empty plot with a board claiming ownership of the place. Residents say that whenever the water stagnates after rain, civic workers fail to turn up to collect the garbage, thereby forcing them to dump it in the plots. “For days together, we are pushed to store the garbage in our apartments. It becomes impossible after a point of time. So, we are forced to dump it there,” says an elderly woman on 21st street, adding that the mosquito menace had become unbearable too. Residents say that when water gets stagnated in these plots, they turn into a hiding ground for snakes. “We come across so many snakes during the monsoons. Our grandchildren wade through the same water to go to school. We keep praying that they do not get bitten,” said Jagannathan, a 70-year-old resident of the 20th street. These residents now want the Corporation to order the plot owners to either take measures to avoid stagnation of water or build concrete fences so that people do not enter these empty pieces of land.
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