On World Environment Day, the two cows that forage on a garbage pile up and plastics on the posh Coonoor Club Road tells it all. It is defining moment, as to how the brittle eco- system of a hill town, like Coonoor has been tampered with in the name of development. Man has meddled with the environment to such an extent that that once abundant meadows have disappeared even on hill sides. And the wandering cows are left to feed on solid waste and plastics.
Concrete structures have cropped up and garbage is littered on streets with impunity by tourists and residents and the stray cattle, ingesting plastics, which is a proven carcinogen is a common sight say denizens of Coonoor.
“It has become a common sight for residents and tourists to see cattle lounging and wandering in all the arterial roads of Coonoor. These cattle, let out by its owners graze on whatever is available to them including, solid waste and plastics in it” says R Subramanian, Convener, Federation of Service Organizations, and Coonoor
“While some eat road side grass some graze in the garbage bins. The two cows in the picture are feeding on trash on the posh Coonoor Club Road. On the one hand, the pile up garbage shows the little the Coonoor Municipality is doing by way of garbage disposal, on the other hand the cows are eating into bins and ingesting plastic, that might cause choking and disease in the bovine and toxicity in its milk which is consumed by children and adults “says Sheetal Gupta, a resident of Coonoor.
The denizens of Coonoor demand the civic body buck up and stream line the solid waste management in the tourist town. “Strict action preventing littering and dumping of garbage on roadside by tourists and residents should be enforced by law enforcing authorities and impounding of stray cattle could only be the remedy to prevent cows feeding on solid wastes. A resolution should be taken by every citizen and authorities to make the he sylvan tourist town of Coonoor garbage-free on this World Environmental Day” said R Subramanian, Convener, and Federation of Service Organizations, added.