Potholes & burning garbage, Sarakki chokes on neglect

The road from Sarakki Metro leading towards Dayananda Sagar Institutions is riddled with potholes and encroachment with garbage being burnt on a daily basis. The large tract of land near Geological Survey of India’s office has been a black spot for long. Earlier this year, the BBMP had installed an aluminum sheet to prevent illegal garbage dumping and burning. But last month it vanished and things are back to square one

Though staying in a clean environment is a basic right, the official machinery that is supposed to ensure it fails miserably.

The less than a kilometre stretch from Sarakki Metro to the curve that descends towards Dayananda Sagar Institutions is riddled with bad roads and encroachment with garbage being burnt on a daily basis.

In order to protect the large tract of land near Geological Survey of India’s office from turning into a black spot the BBMP early this year had put an aluminum sheet, but last month it vanished and the area has once again earned the sobriquet ‘flesh dump’ (owing to the throwing of waste from meat shops).

“Even when the sheet was there, slum residents used to throw the garbage outside the sheet and burn it under cover of darkness. The sheet was turned black but still, the situation was better. Now we are back to square one,” said Avinash Patil, a nearby resident.

The locals claim that though the Palike is doing a fine job of cleaning up the area, but the meat shops owners of the nearby areas such as Umar Bagh and Banashankari were alleged to be dumping the animal waste.

“This is the situation in Kadirenahalli. The mushrooming of PG accommodation and eateries near college has led to the mess. They should be fined if found violating the BBMP guidelines,” said Ravi Shah, a resident of Kadirenahalli cross for the past 10 years.

In the nearby alley that enters in Ilyas Nagar, the miscreants tore the green mesh and the broke the barbwire that was put up to prevent dumping.

“This is sickening and the job of the corporator is to mend it but not a single resident can claim of talking to the representative since he is well known for not taking calls. How could things improve then? This indicates of garbage mafia,” Shah added.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) reports says the formation of leachate due to the unauthorised dumping of garbage even contaminates the groundwater.

Q&A: People should report about violator, says Mayor Gangambike
Will the installation of CCTV cameras help in putting an end to garbage menace?
Garbage burning is an issue which bothers people and to eliminate this, the corporators were allotted funds to install cameras at black spots, but still some miscreants dump and burn garbage.
What is the solution then?
Punitive action against the violators and I request people to report such incidents to us immediately. They should help us in nabbing the culprits.
How could the residents contribute to keeping the environment clean?
For a clean city, citizens and government officials should cooperate. The citizens should also show greater civic sense. We should adopt the method use in abroad of levying hefty fines on violators.