Kollam beach littered with garbage, driving away visitors & attracting stray dogs

Kollam: Garbage has been piling up at the Kollam beach, with the sandy stretch littered with plastic covers and paper, which adds to the nuisance posed by stray dogs. This has turned the popular shoreline into an eyesore, driving away tourists and locals who wish to visit the once scenic destination.

The machine meant to collect waste here often fails to operate, and locals say the volume of waste is unmanageable even when it functions. With the machine not working on Friday as well, the garbage accumulation on the beach has increased further.

Usually, the site's waste-clearing machine operates between 8 am and 11 am. Since the beach is highly vulnerable and the machine is prone to damage from getting stuck in the sand, it cannot be taken to all parts of the beach. As a result, it is often operated only along the middle stretch of the beach. Areas where the machine cannot reach remain covered with paper, plastic, and other waste. To make matters worse, even the main section of the beach is now filled with garbage.

Waste piles can be seen accumulated on both sides of the beach. Meanwhile, the road outside the beach is kept clean with the help of sanitation workers. However, due to staff shortages, they cannot be deployed across more areas. The volume of waste generated each day is far beyond what the existing workforce can manage.

Apart from the waste visitors dump, the sea also washes up trash along the shore. This mainly includes tree branches, footwear, bottles, and plastic. Residents of Kollam demand that the beach be made waste-free at the earliest by regularly operating the machine, deploying more workers, and conducting awareness campaigns.