Chennai’s cracker waste collection has nearly doubled from last year, with the Greater Chennai Corporation clearing 406 tonnes in three days and expecting the total to reach about 600 tonnes by the weekend. The civic body said rain, poor air quality and weak segregation by residents were complicating disposal after Diwali celebrations.
GCC commissioner G S Sameeran said the corporation had been collecting firecracker waste since Saturday morning. Of the 406 tonnes collected until 3pm on Monday, four tonnes were picked up on Saturday and 145 tonnes on Sunday. The civic body did not provide the collection figure for the remaining period separately in the information reported.
The current volume is already higher than the total collected during the corresponding period in each of the previous four years. GCC recorded 138 tonnes in two days in 2021, 270 tonnes in four days in 2022, 210 tonnes in three days in 2023 and 213 tonnes in two days in 2024. Last year, the corporation collected 225 tonnes in three days.
Sameeran said the corporation had deployed 600 additional sanitation workers beyond its regular morning-shift workforce of 19,275 staff. About 350 additional vehicles and machines, including tipper lorries, earthmovers and Bobcat loaders, were also pressed into service to remove the waste from the city.
The operation has placed an extra load on Chennai’s routine waste-collection system, which must manage firecracker debris alongside household garbage and other municipal waste. The commissioner said disposal was proving difficult because of rain and poor air quality following the celebrations. The reported collection total covers waste cleared by the civic body until 3pm on Monday, while the final volume is expected to rise as clean-up work continues.
GCC had asked residents to place firecracker waste in separate bags and hand it over directly to sanitation workers. It also urged people not to mix the material with household garbage or leave it on roads and in public spaces. According to Sameeran, compliance with segregation instructions among residents remained poor, although the corporation expects a better response in the coming years.
The year-by-year figures show that the latest collection is not simply a routine seasonal clean-up. The 406 tonnes recorded in three days is 181 tonnes above last year’s three-day figure and 131 tonnes more than the 2022 total, despite the latter being measured across four days. GCC’s immediate task is to complete collection and disposal as the additional waste continues to enter the municipal system.
The corporation’s expected weekend total of around 600 tonnes will determine the eventual scale of this year’s post-Diwali waste operation. Until then, GCC’s additional workforce, vehicles and machinery will remain engaged in clearing the material and keeping it separate from regular household waste.
