Recently I had visited my widowed aunt living in Muthampalayam, Villupuram with her pregnant daughter and was horrified at the surroundings. There are more than a hundred houses and schools in the area and majority of the barren land had been converted into a solid waste dumping site. The solid wastes are dumped there by many tipper lorries. As you are well aware this would cause severe health implications for the public living nearby and I could only imagine the devastating effect this could have on my three year old nephew and the unborn child.

The resulting effects of the solid wastes dumped are air pollution due to smoke and stench, soaring hot temperatures due to the fire generated in the wastes, ground water contamination due to the leach-ate, soil infertility and a breeding ground of mosquitoes and bacteria to name a few impacts.

I tried filing a complaint online but was heart broken when I came to know that the 'Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board' accepts online complaints that are related only to industries. My aunt and her daughter are in a helpless situation, as are so many people living in that area. The residents of the area have tried to stop the waste dumping many times before but have failed to bring about a permanent solution.

Please help us in making the area clear of solid wastes. Solid wastes should not be dumped in residential areas.

Given below are some of the impacts of a landfill in residential areas:

Visual and Health Impacts
Landfill sites impact the natural landscape: they stink, they are trashy looking and a become a bacteria breeding ground. The smell, traffic, noise and vermin that accompany landfills can lower house prices. Because of the increase in vermin surrounding landfills, disease becomes an issue with other adverse health effects, such as birth defects, cancer and respiratory illnesses also being linked with exposure to landfill sites.

Air Pollution
About two-thirds of landfill waste contains biodegradable organic matter from households, business and industry. As this material decomposes, it releases methane gas. As a potent greenhouse gas, methane traps up to 20 times more heat in the atmosphere compared with carbon dioxide. Oftentimes the air surrounding landfill sites smells unpleasant, due to the decaying organic waste.

Groundwater Pollution
As rain falls on landfill sites, organic and inorganic constituents dissolve, forming highly toxic chemicals leaching into groundwater. Water that rinses through these chemicals collects at the base of the landfill and usually contains high levels of toxic metals, ammonia, toxic organic compounds and pathogens. This can result in serious contamination of the local groundwater. Even more dangers, this mixture usually creates a high biological oxygen demand, meaning it can quickly de-oxygenate water. If or when these noxious chemicals reach rivers or lakes, it could result in the death of aquatic life.

Soil Fertility Effects
The mixture of toxic substances and decaying organic material can impact the soil quality of the areas surrounding a landfill site. This can compound the effects on biodiversity as local vegetation may cease to grow and be permanently altered.

Biodiversity Impacts
According to the Romanian Ministry of Environment and Forests, the development of a landfill site means the loss of approximately 30 to 300 species per hectare. Changes also occur in local species, with some mammals and birds being replaced by species that feed on refuse, such as rats and crows. Vegetation changes also occur, regardless of the duration of the landfill site, as some plant species are replaced by others.

Please help by signing this petition and making a better environment for our future generations.