News
Photo focus: Garbage and the city
Lorries are seen dumping garbage at Meetotamulla despite protests by residents whose residences were affected during the recent floods
Ever mounting mounds of garbage continue to appear in different parts of the city and the authorities do not seem to have a clue as to how the problem could be tackled.
The issue of garbage disposal is not confined to the Colombo city and its outskirts alone. Other areas of the country including Kandy, Akurana, Dambulla, Ella etc. all face the same problem.
Island-wide, improper collection and disposal systems of solid waste management is adversely affecting the general public. Residents especially those in urban areas face problems varying from a lack of hygiene to environment degradation.
The piles of garbage lying on the roadside in residential areas have become breeding grounds for flies and rodents which in turn spread infectious disease such as dengue, rat fever, as well as other water and air-borne diseases.
‘When the garbage is not collected in a timely manner, bags filled with garbage can be seen hanging on gates, posts and walls of buildings which remain for days’, Victor Fernando, a resident of Mattakkuliya said.
To make matters worse, despite the experience where the recent floods deposited huge amounts of garbage from the landfill at Meetotamulla into residences in the area; lorries are once again seen transporting garbage to be dumped at this landfill despite the protests of area residents.
Large numbers of birds have been found dead in the vicinity of this dump at Karadiyana.
Delays in collecting garbage force city dwellers to come direct to the trucks
Uncollected waste has become a breeding ground for flies and rodents
Delays in garbage collection result in scenes such as this with bags filled with garbage hanging from fences etc
This herd of elephants has taken to feeding at the garbage dump off Dambulla. A post mortem of an elephant who died revealed polythene bags collected in its intestines