Bengaluru: Erratic garbage collection raises stink

Bengaluru: The city is once again staring at garbage crisis with BBMP staff stopping clearing of garbage in many areas in east Bengaluru.

Residents in Horamavu, Jayanti Nagara and Kalkere complain that the Pourakarmikas have not been collecting garbage for the past five days.

While bags of garbage continue to pile up at homes, the city’s roads began sporting a sickening familiar sight – mounds of rotting waste.

“For the past four to five days, pourakarmikas haven’t lifted garbage in our locality,” said Shanti, a homemaker in Nisarga Colony. The garbage clearance had become erratic over the last four to five weeks, but had worsened in the last few days, she added.

Deepa, also a homemaker in Horamavu, said both wet and dry garbage have not been cleared from her house in the past few days.

“We dutifully segregate garbage. But for days, the wet waste lies in our homes and the BBMP pourkarmikas are playing truant. Bags of wet waste are lying in my compound. At night dogs jump over the wall and tear open the bags looking for food. 

By morning, we have to clean up,” she complained.

Devaraj, who owns a kirana shop, said the piling up of wet waste is not only an environmental hazard, but also encourages rodents, bandicoots to enter homes looking for food.

“Unless garbage is cleared, we could be seeing a health crisis. At night, packs of dogs roam the area looking for food. They even attack anyone entering the locality,” he said. His chief concern is that the dogs and the rodents could be carrying disease-carrying viruses, which could affect little children.

Murugan and his wife are facing the same problem. Bags of garbage are lying in his driveway. “For the last few days sanitation workers are not collecting our garbage. They came one day last week and that’s that. The garbage pick-up truck has not visited our area for some time,” he added.

Horamavu Corporator Radhamma Venkatesh assured that garbage would be collected at the earliest and said that she would herself visit the areas to ensure that trash is cleared. “I will be visiting the areas. The aim is to ensure garbage collection is restored as soon as possible,” she said.