BENGALURU: Morning walkers at Sankey Tank who hoped to get a breath of fresh air on Tuesday were welcomed by smoke from garbage that was being burnt in the vicinity on Tuesday.
A thick air of smoke engulfed a stretch of Sankey Road near the Aiyappa Temple in the morning and the visibility dropped to zero, making it difficult for pedestrians and two-wheeler commuters.
A heap of dried coconut fronds were set on fire around 8am on Sankey Road, right opposite the waterbody that has vacant land with overgrown shrubs.
Commuters on two-wheelers had to stop for a few minutes as visibility on the road was poor and had to wait for the smoke to subside. Smoke had spilled on to the road that connects Malleswaram to Bhashyam Circle in Sadashivanagar and into the Sankey Tank premises. “I take this route to work daiy. On some days, it is dry leaves and on other days, plastic is burnt,” said Mahantesh G, a commuter.
Many morning walkers walked to the other side of the road to click photos of the smoke covering the area. “Time and again, people are requested not to burn garbage. This menace continues despite that. We hope a lot of complaints reach the pollution control board,” said a resident of Sadashivanagar.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad said he was unaware of the issue and would have it addressed.
Online petitions
The city is notorious for poor handling of waste generated and burning garbage. Several online petitions have sought that the issues be addressed. These petitions complain that garbage is being burnt in the open, leading to damage of air quality. An online petition created by Jhatkaa.org reads, “We already have 4 Indian cities on the list of 10 most polluted cities in the world. Let’s not add Bangalore to that list.
Let’s help Bangalore be recrowned as the ‘Garden City’ of India. Join us in telling the BBMP that garbage burning is illegal and the ban on open garbage burning must be enforced immediately!” The petition has drawn support from over 3,500 participants. Another campaign initiated by Sailesh Bhupalam on change.org seeks that a fine be imposed on anyone found burning garbage.