BANGALORE: The ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,’ aimed at cleansing the city of waste and garbage, seems to have had no effect whatsoever. Residents are claiming that garbage in their respective localities has not been cleared since the past four days.
Adding to this, the deluge that the city has witnessed in the past two days has added to people’s woes.
Residents of Domlur, Marathahalli and other areas are furious that the garbage hasn’t been cleared in the last four days, which has raised a stink.
Even in front of the Vidhana Soudha, waste was lying unattended till Monday evening. Preetisha Goswami, a resident of Domlur 2nd stage, said the garbage has not been cleared since October 1.
Matthew John, a resident of Appareddy Layout in Indiranagar said a pile of garbage lying outside his house hasn’t been cleared yet.
“The locality is slightly secluded. I have had no such problems in the past, but this time nobody has cleared the garbage. In the neighbouring locality, the BBMP put up a board stating that those found littering will be fined. That area has improved considerably. Hope the BBMP does something like that here too,” he said.
“It is frustrating. It has been more than four days, and the garbage that has accumulated has definitely caused problems. A resident contacted the garbage contractor, who is reportedly on leave. We do not know when he will be back. Till then, we have to make do with all this muck lying around,” she said.
When contacted, Bangalore (east) joint commissioner B E Govindaraj said, “I did know of this, as strict instructions were issued to clear waste. I will instruct our officials to conduct an inspection soon. Also, the garbage contractor cannot go on leave, with the exception of emergencies, as they are rendering a service to the residents. We will ascertain the cause of leave taken and suitable action will follow.”
However, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had already started clearing garbage at several areas of the city on Monday.
Mayor N Shantakumari, along with deputy mayor K Ranganna and BBMP commissioner M Lakshminarayana inspected Dasarahalli, K R Market and Russell Market areas on Monday. After the inspection, the mayor directed the officials concerned to clear the garbage at the earliest.
“Due to Dussehra and Bakrid, the city has witnessed the generation of 250-300 additional tons of garbage. Clearing it out will take some time. We are confident that the waste will be cleared from all localities in another two-three days. I have instructed all the zonal officers to expedite the work,” Lakshminarayana said.