BENGALURU: Question: What else can fed-up, frustrated citizens do when BBMP leaves mounds of garbage uncleared for years?
Answer: Do it themselves, of course. That’s exactly what the residents of Viveknagar, who are also members of ‘Ugly Indian’, (a group of socially concerned citizens), did when BBMP turned a deaf ear to their repeated requests. They covered the eyesore with a large tarpaulin.
N. S. Ramakanth, a member of the solid waste management expert committee constituted by the Supreme Court, told DC that the area near the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quarters near Ejipura has turned into a total eyesore due to the dumping of garbage and construction debris there. Over 20 tractor loads of garbage were removed from the spot!
Since mounds of garbage were lying unattended near a school, the members of ‘Ugly Indian’ took the initiative to make the area look cleaner by clearing the garbage and painting the walls to make them look visually appealing, he added.
Following complaints by school authorities about the health hazard to students caused by indiscriminate dumping of garbage opposite the school, Mr. Ramakanth suggested installing a CCTV. With this, he said, garbage dumpers could be identified and punished.
He also suggested that the BBMP could install a kiosk to collect garbage and segregate it before transportation to the waste processing plants. He did add that unless the waste kiosk was manned by two pourakarmikas with three bins to segregate wet, dry and other waste, the purpose of setting up a kiosk would be defeated.
Residents of Ejipura alleged that the BBMP was deliberately not clearing the garbage near the ES quarters where the BBMP has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maverick Holdings Private Limited for a joint venture project. A commercial complex and EWS quarters have been planned there. Since a dispute is in progress over land, the garbage is not being cleared.
Also, clearing garbage on the footpath of the EWS quarters paves the way for squatters to claim occupy the area. Non-clearance of garbage would prevent this, said a resident of Ejipura.
