Banaswadi: Garbage disposal up in flames

Bengaluru: For shopkeepers and residents near the Banaswadi flyover the government’s claim that it was trying to improve the city’s solid waste management sounds like a cruel joke.

Illegal dumping and even burning of garbage is rampant near the entrance of Banaswadi flyover, from Chikkabanaswadi side. Pedestrians are unable to use the footpath as it is littered with garbage.

"BBMP has been boasting of taking steps to improve the solid waste management (SWM) by setting up bins at prominent places and improving segregation at source. But nothing has happened on the ground. The mess at Banaswadi flyover is just because of the failure of BBMP to improve SWM and take stern action against violators," said Ganesh Hegde a commuter.

He said the ones who fail to hand over the segregated garbage to the pourakarmikas or the auto tippers just pack their thrash in a plastic cover and when they reach this spot they swing the cover off and scoot away in their vehicles.

A shop keeper, who did not wish to be named, said, "We have to run our

business here. We are paying hefty rent to the shop. But we ourselves are not able to bear with the stench emanating from the garbage dumped here. Then how can we expect the customers to visit us?,” he questioned.

In addition, the entire stretch of

footpath on Chikkabanaswadi, from the military area till the entrance of the Banaswadi flyover is in a pathetic state. It has lot of black spots and at many places garbage is being burnt, posing serious threat to environment.

“In the absence of any monitoring mechanism, garbage is being dumped and burnt. As the garbage is not being cleared, it attracts stray dogs and cows," said Yamini, a local resident.

She insisted that BBMP should wake up and take measures to curb this menace either by setting up bins or improving door to door garbage collection.

Further the residents complained of non-functioning street lights, potholes on roads and overflowing drains. Another major issue was flagrant violation of traffic rules by motorists, leading to accidents, they added.

‘Will clear the black spot soon’

Q and A with Kammanahalli ward corporator D Munilakshmamma
The black spot at the entrance of Banaswadi flyover from Chikkabanaswadi side is a real mess? Are you aware of this?
The black spot was there from long. With my efforts, the whole area was cleared some months ago. But now it is back.

Is it back because of lack of monitoring by BBMP?
In order to prevent it from turning into a black spot again, we had brought in JCB to clear the entire lot, so that two wheelers can move around below the flyover. This would have prevented it from emerging again.

So what is your plan now?
The citizens should have some civic sense. We had installed boards to prevent garbage dumping. Will visit the spot again along with health inspectors and get the black spot cleared and find a way to prevent it in future.