They collect garbage for a living, and live in it as well

CHENNAI: For these 20 families housed near the Sembakkam Lake in Chitlapakkam, garbage has long spilled over from livelihood to living space.
The garbage collectors and their children have been living in squalor at the now defunct garbage segregation plant in Chitlapakkam for the last six years. While the adults eke out a living going door to door between 6 am and 5 pm to collect garbage, their children, who do not go to school, spend their day in the garbage dump, which for the last few years has become their playground.
Nagesh, a native of Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh, and one of the garbage collectors, says, “For six years, we have lived like this with no access to basic amenities like toilets.Our children have no access to schools,” says Nagesh. Each worker is paid Rs 215 from a contractor appointed by the local civic body.
Sridhar from Rayalseema in Andhra Pradesh lives here with his parents. “We are poor and though I would love to study, we have no choice but to stay back at home,” says the 10-year-old, who along with his sister, helps with the household chores like collecting water from the roadside tap.
When TOI visited the segregation plant, families were seen living in box-like cement structures, which were used to segregate garbage earlier. Even now garbage, plastic and sewage exit around the structures.
“It is difficult for us to live with Rs 215 a day and we know that the contractor gets more but this is what he pays us. We would like to lead a decent life and educate our children,” says Nagesh. “It is difficult to sleep at night because of the stench and the swarms of mosquitoes. Many of us including our children have health issues, but it is difficult to find doctors to treat us,” he adds.
R Govindaraj, joint general secretary, EXNORA, says, “It is appalling that these garbage collectors are living in such deplorable conditions. It is the duty of the Sembakkam municipality to ensure that they are entitled to better living conditions, which is part of any scheme of the government.’’